Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Brave New World
by Ghost-and-Miracle42
Summary: Answer to Charmed-MilliE and Sigma's Super Shipping Challenge. With Crisis over, the Paragons sit down to discover all the things that have changed in their new world, and its a lot more than they imagined. Explore the new secret histories of Earth-Prime, and discover the stories Oliver reimagined with his final sacrifice. Karry.
1. The Brave New World

**Authors** **Notes:** You have a three day weekend to thank for this, our answer to Charmed-Mille and Sigma's Super Shipping Challenge. It was supposed to be 5000 words tops. It got _way_ out of hand.

_Prompt: Crisis on Infinite Earths changed the worlds, but also changed the history and relationship between two characters. Write what you see fits._

_Rules:_

_You can choose whatever couple you like that were not in a relationship before Crisis – that includes Karry, SnowAllen, Monara, Lauriver etc. It does NOT include WestAllen, Olicity, Kara/William etc…_

The ship is Karry, and we're off to the races. Chapter One covers first meetings and origins, Chapter Two covers the first crossover (With the Hawks, which we completely rewrote and now introduces the Legion instead). That one will be posted next week. Now, without further a dew...

Ghost and Miracle.

* * *

**CRISIS: THE BRAVE NEW WORLD**

* * *

**The Present Day: 2020**

As she sat, arms folded on a table in Al's Alien Dive Bar, Kara tried to get over the old feeling that hung over not just the world, but her specifically. It was an odd feeling, something she wasn't sure she could describe. In part it was a heaviness in her body she'd never experienced before. Her movements felt just the slightest bit more sluggish, as if there was a tiredness about them her brain didn't share. Though when she'd checked, she'd found nothing amiss. But it was also a fogginess of the mind. Like there was something she _should_ know, but didn't. And it was driving her _mad_ trying to figure out what it was. She was honestly considering getting J'onn to peek into her brain and see if there was anything wrong. Perhaps it had to do with what Cisco had formally dubbed 'Earth-Prime' – the new world created when Oliver sacrificed himself to restart the Multiverse.

The bar wasn't particularly crowded today, but that didn't stop the few aliens present – as well as the bartenders – from gasping when Barry Allen – in civilian clothes – flashed _through_ the door and slid into the seat beside her, yellow lightning flickering around his form for a few seconds.

"I can't find Iris," he said, staring at her with red-rimmed eyes. "Joe said she's been dead for years, but… I just… I just couldn't accept it."

"Oh Barry," she breathed, pulling the speedster into a hug as she let him cry into her shoulder. They stayed that way for several minutes, Kara rubbing circles into his back, until the door opened once more to reveal Sara and Ray. She waved them over, and they sat down on the opposite side of the booth, looking at her in question. Barry still hadn't stirred from her shoulder.

'Iris,' she mouthed to them, and they both nodded their heads in understanding.

The waitress walked over, and Kara gave a start when she realised the woman was _M'gann_ _M'orzz._

"M'gann!" She exclaimed, her jolt startling Barry back to himself. He whipped away his tears, composing himself at superspeed – forgetting in his haste that Kara could perceive every movement he made.

"Hi, Kara! Barry, Sara and… wait, is this a Justice League meeting? Should I clear the place out?" She gestured vaguely to the rest of the room, who now that she thought about it were staring at the four heroes in awe.

"Yes, that would be great," Sara said, covering for Kara's shock. M'gann nodded, then rushed away to speak to Al – the bar's owner.

"Old friend in the wrong place?" Sara asked with a quirked eyebrow as Barry scanned the room and Ray looked on in confusion.

"Yeah…" she whispered, blinking a few times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. M'gann was here? Why wasn't she on Mars? What had changed so drastically to result in her not going back? She really hoped Cisco was finished with his map of the new timeline because she was really starting to lose it.

Cisco chose that moment to push through the door, a mail tube in hand, as the other patrons were filing out, though instead of grumbling like a normal person, he was geeking out as he tried to identify each person's species. Eventually, J'onn came up behind and pushed him forward.

"This is so fricken cool!" Cisco exclaimed as he hurried over to the booth – J'onn and John rolling their eyes behind him. "An alien dive bar! A literal bar for aliens, with alien booze and alien waitresses…" He eyed M'gann as she escorted the last patron – a Centauran – to the exit.

"Don't, man, just don't. You know hooking up with superpowered bartenders doesn't work out well for you," Barry said, a fake smile planted on his face.

Cisco hung his head in shame, and Kara, Sara and Ray all laughed.

Finally, John Diggle and Alex walked into the bar, both instantly scanning the room for threats. Kara resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Sara and Ray moved around the table, leaving room for Cisco, J'onn, Alex and John to sit down adjacent to Kara and Barry.

"So why did you call us?" Ray asked, a curious look on her face.

"I asked Cisco to compile a list of timeline changes. Thanks to his Vibe powers, he can remember both timelines. Also, he's a massive nerd. Barry, J'onn, Sara and I – the paragons – we have no memories of this new world. This way, we can see what's different from what we remember. I have this odd feeling that Oliver might have left some surprises for us," Kara explained.

"Hey!" Cisco exclaimed, affronted

"Ah," J'onn said, nodding his head a few times, "I have an idea, thanks to what I saw in people's minds when I went across the country restoring peoples memories, but having a comprehensive timeline is a good idea."

"Why are _we_ here then?" Diggle asked, gesturing to him and Alex.

"To make sure Cisco hasn't missed anything. You guys lived this timeline and just got memory dumps of the Crisis from J'onn's telepathy. Dig, you can answer any Starling City questions, Alex can answer any 'Super' Family questions, and Ray any Legends stuff."

Diggle nodded his head, and Alex made an 'oh' expression.

"Legends? You mean Legion?" Ray asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Sara facepalmed. "Exactly."

M'gann reached the table, and they all ordered drinks – nothing alcoholic, yet. Kara had a feeling they'd need some before the end of this conversation.

Cisco withdrew his cardboard cylinder and pulled out an A2 sheet of paper, on which he'd drawn an enormous timeline.

"Where do you want to start?"

They all looked to one another.

"How about at the beginning?" J'onn suggested, and the others all agreed.

Cisco nodded, before pointing to the top left-hand corner of the page, where a thick dark blue line started.

"Superman – because, we have a _Superman_ now, which is awesome – debuted the same year Barry's mother was killed – 2000."

Barry stiffened, and Kara wrapped an arm around his waist, out of view of the others. He smiled softly to her in appreciation, and she couldn't help smiling softly back.

"I'm pretty sure everything else from those early years is mostly the same. Kara crashed to Earth in 2004, J'onn takes Hank Henshaw's place as leader of the DEO the next year. This purple line represents Black Lightning, and he debuted in 2008, the same year the Queen's Gambit sinks to the bottom of the North China Sea, and Sara and Oliver are stranded on Lian Yu…"

"Hold up!" Kara exclaimed, waving her hands around, "I'm a year younger than I'm supposed to be?!"

Sara frowned. "_Both_ of us were stranded on Lian Yu from the start?"

Cisco shrugged. "As far as I know. You two haven't exactly been very honest in divulging everything that happened to you," he pointed out, and Dig laughed.

"That's an understatement."

"A year younger?!" Kara repeated, leaning forward in shock.

"Ha!" Alex said, "Only _you_ would be annoyed at that."

Sara and J'onn shared a look, rolling their eyes in exasperation.

M'gann arrived at their table, delivering the drinks, and Kara couldn't help but notice that she and J'onn made conscious efforts not to look at one another. What had happened there? Did J'onn even _know_ whathappened?

"Can I keep going?"

"Yes, Cisco, _please_ keep going," Barry begged.

Kara tuned out then, focussing on Barry's face as Cisco went on about the disappearance of Black Lightning in 2012 and the first sighting of the vigilante known only as 'the Hood' in Starling City – marked by a green line on the timeline. He was trying very hard to hold himself together, but Kara knew him very well by now. The way his jaw clenched slightly, and how the line above his right eye would become more prominent when he was trying to keep his face steady. Barry Allen wore his heart on his sleeve, just as she did, and right now, he was a man seconds away from breaking down. So she kept her arm around his waist, holding him, comforting him, in any way she could.

"Barry, Sara, Kara and Oliver meet for the first time in December 2013…"

"What!?" The three heroes in question all exclaimed, blinking in shock as Cisco jumped back, raising a hand to his chest.

"JESUS! Don't do that!"

"We didn't meet until after we became heroes!" Kara exclaimed.

"And I definitely didn't know Barry before he was the Flash," Sara stated, shaking her head. They all turned to Dig, who was staring at them with an amused smirk.

"Guess this one's my story to tell then…"

* * *

ARROW: S2E08 – "THE SCIENTIST AND THE SUPER"

**December 2013**

Kara jolted slightly as someone tapped her on the shoulder, a soft 'eep' slipping from her lips as her brain disengaged from the book she'd been reading.

"I'm so sorry…" the offender said, and Kara blinked back to awareness. He was taller than her, thin of frame and young of face, with short but thick brown hair. And he was wearing a plaid shirt beneath his blue woollen jumper. Simply put, he was _seriously cute_.

"Oh, its… it's _totally_ fine. I was just…" she stuttered, heat rising to her cheeks as she stared at him.

"Reading," he concluded, giving her a brilliant smile, "The easiest way to get lost is to open a good book."

"Well," she said, adjusting her glasses and closing the book, "You know what they say. A reader lives a thousand lives before they die…"

"the person who never reads lives only one," they finished together. Someone coughed, and this time both of them blinked in surprise. How long had they been staring at each other? She blushed again, hiding her face.

"Sorry," he said again, though this time it was to an elderly lady trying to move down the aisle behind them. Kara was on a train across the country, travelling from Metropolis all the way to National City for an interview, then, hopefully, a job. The man lifted his suitcase – straining with the effort – over his head and slid it onto the luggage rack, before sitting down in the seat beside her.

Kara took a deep breath, then pushed her pony-tail back and offered her hand to him.

"Kara Danvers," she said, grinning a bit stupidly.

"Barry Allen," he replied with a similar expression, "So, what were you reading Miss Danvers?"

"It's just Kara," she said, waving off the use of her full name. "And, um, you wouldn't know it."

Barry – who named a kid _Barry?_ – raised an eyebrow at her.

"Try me."

"The Universal Journalist, by David Randall," she said slyly, holding up the book to display the cover. Barry laughed, and Kara's insides squirmed slightly. _What?_

"Yeah… don't know that one."

"Didn't think so," she said dryly, before putting the book in the pocket of the seat in front of her.

"Are you studying to be a journalist?" he asked.

"Media studies and marketing. So maybe one day. I'm actually on my way to National City for a job interview right now."

"That's very cool, and good luck, I'm sure you'll get it."

Kara scoffed. "I doubt it. Cat Grant's supposed to be a nightmare who fires assistants every week. But my mom convinced me to apply, and it's a great opportunity, so what's the harm. Other than to my pride, of course." Barry just shook his head.

"No way. I'll put good money on you getting that job Kara Danvers. Why? Because you have to be pretty dedicated to something to be studying on a train at six o'clock in the morning. Cat Grant would be a fool to throw you away." Kara blanched, then checked her watch. It was six o'clock already? That meant they'd already passed Central City… which was where Barry had probably gotten on. Wow, Kara. Nice awareness. Clark would be so proud.

Barry laughed at her shock, and Kara buried her face in her hands.

"I must look like a mess," she groaned, suddenly incredibly self-conscious. This new high-speed rail line was incredibly useful, cutting the travel time across the United States from three days by coach to about 21 hours from New York to Los Angeles, but not being able to take a shower for one day was just as bad as three in Kara's opinion. Thank Rao she didn't have super smell as well, or her own body odour probably would have killed her.

"No way, I think you look great…" he ground to a halt then, realising what he'd said. Kara's cheek inflamed again, and she decided changing the conversation was probably an excellent idea.

"So, um, what about you? Where are you headed?"

She had a decent idea. Well, there weren't very many places on the high-speed line yet. They'd only opened the first two branches – Cross-country from New York to LA via Chicago, Central City, Starling City and National City, and the East Coast from Boston to Atlanta – a year ago. The next one was supposed to be opened next year, running through the South if she remembered correctly.

"Starling City. I'm… working a case for the CCPD."

"You're a cop?" Barry scratched at the back of his head.

"Well, no, though not for lack of trying. I'm not very good at… punching and shooting and stuff. Science is more my thing. I'm a CSI."

"Oh! My sister is a bio-engineer for Palmer Technologies. But she works in National City. What case are you working on?" She gushed, intrigued.

"Wicked." He leaned towards her, lowering his voice as if telling her a secret, and she couldn't help but mirror his actions. "I'm searching for unexplainable cases. Things that break the laws of physics and reason. Things like Superman." Kara suppressed a shiver. "A case came over the wire this morning from Starling City that makes no sense. I opened it up and made a preliminary assessment, and I'm certain that the perp had superstrength. Can you imagine that? Having the strength of like, five men? Ten? Being able to lift a car? It's incredible!"

"Yeah," she said, heart quickening, "really incredible. And the 'perp', what did he do?"

"Broke into a Queen Consolidated laboratory, not sure why yet. I'll need to inventory the site to find out what was stolen."

Kara nodded, unable to hide her intrigue. Was this something Kal would want to know about? A supervillain? Surely the cops couldn't do anything to stop someone with superstrength? Was this mysterious criminal an alien?

All good questions. Which was why she let Barry show her the security camera video he had on his phone, and talk about the other things he'd noticed as a CSI, leaving him to assume her interest was for journalism. Eventually, the conversation veered away from the supernatural, and they talked about the differences between Central City and Metropolis until finally, they lapsed into a comfortable silence. Kara had taken the train five days early – to make sure she wasn't late to National City and to spend time with Alex. There was plenty of time to stop off in Starling and see whether Superman needed to know about this criminal. And if it meant she got to spend more time with Barry? Well, that was just a win-win.

* * *

Kara stood outside the cordoned off Police perimeter surrounding the applied sciences division of Queen Consolidated, leaning against a streetlamp, notepad and pen in hand, as she used her super-hearing to eavesdrop on the voices inside. She had bid farewell to Barry at the Starling City station and traded numbers with him, promising to call and tell him how her interview went if he told her all about his search for the impossible. Then, once he'd been out of sight, she'd slipped off the train and followed at a safe distance as he tried, and failed, to catch a cab. He really was adorable. And cute. Really cute.

_"He's the only guy we got on video,"_ a man, presumably Starling City Police's own CSI, said, _"the rest of the crew must have come in after."_

_"Actually, it was only one guy," _Barry said, finally making his way into the building, completely drenched in rain. Kara at least had an umbrella.

_"Sorry, I'm late… I got stuck in traffic, which is my cab driver's fault because I have this great traffic app and… and I'm here now so…"_

_"Great. Who the hell are you?" _This was the voice of the police officer. Lance, according to her x-ray vision of his name badge.

_"And do your parents know you're here?"_ Oliver Queen asked. Him she recognised from all those photos on the news after he'd been found stranded on an island for five years. That had to be some story.

_"I'm Barry Allen. I'm a CSI with the Central City Police Department. We're dealing with a similar case in Central City, so when my captain heard this come over the wire, he sent me down here to assist." _Well, that was a bald-faced lie. But it was well-spoken and sincere. He was good. It was kind of ruined by his heartbeat, which Kara could hear skyrocketing in panic. She suppressed a giggle at the absurdity of that.

Barry went on to explain the same theories he'd already told her, which made perfect sense to Kara. Kryptonian schooling plus living with Alex taught you science, even if Kara wasn't particularly good at it. However, none of the people with him – Queen, Lance, the Starling CSI, Queen's blonde-haired secretary (who looked freakishly like Kara herself) and Queen's head of security – seemed to believe what he said. Had they not seen Superman fighting off Brainiac a few years back?

The only things she learned that she didn't already know were that the object stolen was a Centrifuge, and one interesting tidbit from Lance and the Secretary.

_"You might want to fill our mutual friend in on this."_

_"Don't worry, I'm sure he's already on it."_

Done, she fled the scene, walking until she found a park bench where she could sit down. Then, she called Clark.

He answered on the second ring.

_"Hello?" _It wasn't Clark.

"I'm looking for Clark Kent, this is his phone," Kara said warily, not recognising the woman on the other end.

_"I'm Clark's girlfriend, Lois Lane. Who are you supposed to be?"_

Clark had a girlfriend? Clark?

"His cousin. Can you, um, put him on the phone please?" The voice on the other end paused, before finally speaking again.

_"I didn't know Smallville had a cousin."_ Kara closed her eyes and counted to five.

"Can you put him on please?"

The voice huffed. _"I wish I could, but he's vanished. Poof. Into thin air. I have absolutely no idea where the hell he is. No one does. No one except Perry at least, who won't tell me anything except that it has to do with a story he's chasing."_

Great. That meant Clark was probably off-world Supermaning or something. She was on her own.

"Thanks. Can you tell him to call me when he gets back?"

_"Sure, what's your name?"_ Kara hung up. Well, one superpowered psycho running around Starling City, surely, she could take out one guy by herself? She was super strong and super fast and could fly and shoot heat vision and…

…

Maybe she should call Alex.

…

Actually, calling Alex was definitely the worst possible idea she could come up with. No, she could do this. One punch and this guy would be out cold, then the SCPD could handle him. No need for Alex. No need at all.

* * *

After buying some black clothes and a beanie from a store, Kara made her way towards Queen Consolidated several hours later. She totally did not get lost. It was a giant skyscraper with the letter Q on it. How could someone get lost trying to find it? Yep, totally not lost.

She also definitely didn't crash headfirst into a brick wall the first time she tried to fly into the air in the alley behind Queen Consolidated. Clark would have been so embarrassed.

Eventually, she made it to the roof of the building, where she changed clothes, tied her hair back, and hid behind an air-conditioning unit. Fortunately for her, wind chill did absolutely nothing to her invulnerable skin.

However, it seemed her tardiness had cost her, as, by the time she was in position, Barry's cover had been blown by what appeared to be an angry Oliver.

_"You'd know all about misleading, wouldn't you Barry?"_

_"What are you talking about?" _The secretary, Felicity – who'd been helping Barry with the forensics – asked.

_"He's not a full CSI, he's an assistant, whose bosses don't know he's in Starling. I just had a lovely chat with one Captain Singh, and he said there was no similar case in Central City, and that you should get your ass back there before he fires you. So, tell me, Barry, what are you really doing here?"_

Barry froze, and on the roof, Kara mimicked him. _An assistant?_ She supposed that made sense, he was about the same age as her.

Barry sighed, then looked at Felicity.

_"I'm sorry."_ Then he turned back to Oliver, and there was a hardness to his gaze that Kara hadn't seen before. _"When I was ten, my mother was murdered."_

Kara gasped, and then everything made perfect sense. Clark had always taught her that a person's primary motivation for anything they do was love. Why did Barry look into unexplainable cases? She could tell what he was going to say next before it even left his lips.

_"By your father,"_ Oliver noted, reading off his phone.

_"He didn't do it. He's serving a life sentence for something he didn't do. I was there. I saw it all. A thing like a tornado charged into our house, and inside that lightning, I saw a man. He killed my mum. No one believed me, and my dad has been sitting in prison, for a crime he didn't commit, ever since. Then you know what happens? Superman fights off an invasion of space aliens that shrink Metropolis. If that can happen, why can't some superpowered person kill my mother?"_ Barry's hands were balled into fists now, and he stepped up to Oliver, eyes locked. Kara's heart _thumped_ in her chest, and she blinked away the tears that welled up in her eyes.

_"That's why I look into cases like this. The cases nobody else believes are possible. Because if I can just solve one. Maybe I can finally find something, be good enough, to free my dad."_

He took a breath, deflating, then stepped back to his workspace and began closing his computer and packing away his equipment.

_"I'm sorry I lied to you. All of you."_ Barry said, sliding his laptop back into his bag. But all Kara could focus on was his heartbeat, and how erratic it sounded. How each breath he took was shallower than the last.

_"Tell the SCPD that the sedative in the blood the Arrow recovered is Ketamine. It's a class three restricted substance, shouldn't be hard to track. Good luck."_ He closed the lid on his suitcase and wheeled it out of the room without turning back.

As soon as Barry was gone, Felicity rounded on Oliver.

_"That was out of line."_

_"He did lie about who he really was,"_ Oliver retorted. Kara was about to abandon her watch and go after Barry when Felicity spoke again.

_"And what do we do every day?" _

That was interesting. Oliver waved off her protest, then turned to his security man, Diggle.

_"Moving on. You were right in saying I knew more than I was letting on. I've seen men with abilities like this before."_ Kara snapped back towards Oliver's office three stories below her, focussing her x-ray vision. As much as she wanted to help Barry, finding this person was more important, and if Oliver knew about it…

_"Where?"_

_"On the island."_ Diggle and Felicity both sighed, and Oliver rolled his eyes. Some story indeed.

_"My second year there, Sara and I came across the remains of a Japanese World War II-era submarine carrying an experimental drug designed to increase a person's strength, speed and durability. A doctor, Ivo, came to the island looking for the serum."_

_"You think this Ivo is in Starling City?"_ Diggle asked, folding his arms in concern.

_"He's dead, and so is everyone he injected with the drug, the last of which, I burned."_

_"Wait, it actually worked?"_ Felicity asked.

_"Yes. But the side-effects… I wouldn't wish that on anyone."_

_"Well clearly someone found the recipe."_

_"Agreed. They already have a centrifuge and a large supply of blood. The last component is a strong sedative…"_

_"Which Barry found on the arrow,"_ Felicity finished. She moved over to her own computer and began typing away.

_"For the record, I'm still mad at you, and the only reason I'm helping is because catching this guy is way more important than grudges." _

Oliver nodded, then turned to look out the window. Diggle stepped up beside him.

_"You think they want to make more of these soldiers?"_ he whispered.

_"I'm certain of it."_ Then he pulled out his phone, dialled, and raised it to his ear.

_"Sara. It's me. You need to get back to Starling. I think Mirakuru might be in play."_

_"I'm on my way."_

* * *

Oliver Queen was the Arrow. Oh yeah. That was some story. The dude had gone through some stuff on that Island of his. And now he prowled his city in the dead of night in a robin hood costume going after a supervillain with nothing but a bow and arrow. This guy was _nuts._

She would admit the costume was pretty badass though.

Kara flew after Oliver's motorcycle as he drove to a secret government facility in Starling City, hiding in the darkness of the night. The man wasn't exactly subtle in his infiltration of the compound, blowing up the entrance with an exploding arrow then stalking inside. Kara, not willing to risk exposing herself if Felicity was wrong, stayed outside, scanning the storage room with her x-ray vision and super hearing. It didn't take long for their criminal to show up, face obscured by a black mask, on a railing above Oliver's position.

Oliver fired an arrow at the man, but it bounced off the armoured vest he wore, and he jumped down to the ground. The duo began chasing one another through the warehouse, using the shelves to distract and obscure each other's line of sight. Kara landed on the roof and began using her heat vision to cut a hole in the tile and brick. Oliver rounded a shelf full of syringes and vials, then ducked a punch from his superpowered assailant as the man lunged for him. He stepped back and shot another arrow, which split in half and pinned the man to one of the shelves by the neck. Clever.

"Who are you!" Oliver demanded, his voice augmented by some technology, "Who gave you the Mirakuru!?"

"My brother saved me with it!" the man snarled, at the same moment the piece of tile Kara was boring fell through, crashing to the ground a few metres down the corridor from them. Oliver jerked towards the sound, and the man used his distraction to break free of the bindings and punch Oliver right in the chest. He flew back into the shelf of drugs, which collapsed under his weight.

Oops.

Kara dropped through the hole, cracking the concrete beneath her shoes. The man, who'd been going to attack Oliver again, stopped, turning slowly towards Kara herself. She took a deep breath and balled her fists.

"Let's dance," she whispered, hoping that was something cool she should say. Then she ran at the man. He didn't move to intercept her or stop her. His mistake. She punched him in the stomach, and a sickening crunch echoed from his ribs. He shot back through several shelves until finally, he crashed _through_ the wall of the building.

Double oops.

Kara, satisfied that her villain was incapacitated, turned back towards Oliver. He lay, unmoving, amongst the rubble of the shelf, face heavily bruised and three syringes sticking out of his leg.

Triple oops.

"See, _this_ is why I don't do superheroing," she muttered to herself as she pulled Oliver out of the debris. She bit her lip and started to pad him down, looking for a phone she could use to call his friends, when a voice interrupted her from behind.

"Step away from him." Kara spun around, berating herself once again for not paying attention, and found herself face to face with a woman in black leather, with long blonde hair, face obscured by a domino mask. A long steel bo-staff was held loosely in her right hand. She x-rayed the woman quickly but didn't recognise her.

"He's hurt, I was just trying to help." She said, raising her hands and backing away. This was obviously one of Oliver's friends – the outfit was a dead give-away. The woman eyed her suspiciously, before kneeling at Oliver's side and prodding him.

"Damn it, Olly. Heart rate sluggish, pupils dilated…" she pulled the syringes out of his leg and looked them over.

"Coded not labelled, no, no, no…" the woman stood up sharply, scanning the room before her gaze landed on a computer lying in the rubble of one of the shelves Kara had punched the guy through.

Quadruple oops.

"Damn it… I don't know what he was injected with…"

"Should we call a hospital?" Kara asked, stepping closer again.

"No! I have a place, but I don't know any doctors…" Kara's eyes lit up.

"I might."

* * *

Barry groaned as the world slowly fazed back into existence. What had… he'd been tranquilised! Who the hell had… He jerked upright, trying to blink away the fog that still clung to his brain. And then his mouth fell open. He was sitting on a metal table in some sort of underground room. A room lined with glass cases filled with arrows. On one side was a display case with an empty mannequin… and on another table, identical to the one he had been lying on, was Oliver Queen – dressed in green leather and combat boots, with arrowheads strapped to his wrists, and green face paint around his eyes. The Arrow. And he was unconscious.

Barry blinked, fixating on the people standing behind the table: John Diggle and a woman with long blonde hair and a black leather outfit. And standing beside them, also dressed in black, was Kara Danvers. The gorgeous girl he'd met and sat next to on the train.

Was he _hallucinating? _

Then Felicity stepped up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Please save my friend."

* * *

**The Present...**

"Wow," Kara said, nodding in pride at her past self. Was that egotistical? She wasn't sure. "I was awesome."

Sara huffed. "You're lucky you didn't knock the building down," she pointed out. Kara dismissed the criticism with a wave of the hand.

"Details, details…"

"So Kara and I met before she became Supergirl?" Barry asked, Kara's arm still wrapped around his waist.

"That's what you told Caitlin and I," Cisco said.

"Trust me, man," Diggle said, "That's definitely how it happened. It still flaws me that two complete strangers were some of the first people to ever know Oliver was the Arrow."

Sara leaned forward over the table, eyes twinkling with curiosity.

"Well, what happened next?"

"What do you think happened?" Diggle said, laughing to himself. Barry and Sara shared a glance.

"Oliver was a dick," they said in unison, and the entire table broke out laughing.

"Seriously though," Kara said, the atmosphere finally lightening some, "what happened?"

"Oh, I can guess," Sara said through her laughter. "It would have been something along the lines of, 'Nobody can know my secret.'" As she spoke those last words, she deepened her voice to a vague approximation of Oliver's. It wasn't very good, and the laughter only renewed.

"Oh yeah," Barry said, body shaking with amusement, "He threw a massive tantrum when it was just me, me _and _Kara? He would have gone berserk."

Dig pointed a thumb at Sara, "She punched him. In the face." Kara chocked on her laughter, hands flying to her face.

"That I would have paid good money to see," J'onn said.

"I have it saved," Dig said cheerfully, pulling out his phone. "I watch it from time to time." He opened the video and placed his phone on the table so everyone could see.

_"Oliver, for once in your life, stop being an ass!" Video Sara exclaimed, raging at Oliver from across the lair. Kara and Barry stood side by side – closer than was strictly necessary – Felicity in front of them protectively. Dig was obviously holding the phone._

_"We don't even know these people! How did she even know we were there?!"_

_"Super hearing, duh," Kara said, rolling her eyes._

_"Super hearing?" Barry whispered, barely loud enough to be heard on the phone._

_"Benefits of being a solar-powered alien," Kara muttered back._

_"That is so cool."_

_"You really think so?"_

_"Yeah!"_

_The camera pivoted back to Sara, who was advancing on Oliver._

_"I get you like to do everything on your own. But just once Oliver Queen, learn how to say thank you. If it wasn't for them, you would be dead right now!"_

_"If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be in this situation…" _

**_SMACK! _**

_Oliver stumbled backwards from the punch, collapsing onto one of the tables._

_"Come on Kara, Barry. Big Belly Burger is on me. I'm not above saying thank you."_

Barry's head hit the table he was laughing so hard. Sara was leaning back against the chair, body wracked with sobs. Ray picked up the phone, held it in front of him and Cisco, and clicked repeat, watching the video over and over and over. Alex and Kara were just staring at the place the phone had been, grinning enormously. Even J'onn, who hadn't known Oliver that well, was chuckling softly to himself.

"That," Kara said, "Was perhaps one of the best things I have ever seen."

Ray and Cisco finally put down the phone, and Barry gestured for Diggle to continue.

"Well, after Oliver got his head out of his ass, Kara, Sara and Oliver took down Cyrus Gold, and rescued Roy, but not before the kid got injected with the Mirakuru Serum."

"I take it after that, I went home?" Barry asked, "Just in time for the Particle Accelerator Explosion."

"And I was on a train to National City… and missed the whole thing," Kara realised, shaking her head.

* * *

THE FLASH: S1EP01 – "PILOT" 

**December 2013**

_"Did you make it?"_ Felicity asked as Barry walked through the darkened corridors of CCPD, holding a tissue to stem the blood dripping from his nose.

"No. I made it back to Central City on time, but I missed the cut off in line at STAR Labs. It seems I'm just doomed to be late to everything."

He slid the door to his lab open and stepped inside, frowning. Water was dripping from a leak in the skylight as the storm raged outside. Again. This was the _third_ time he'd tried to get the thing fixed. A large puddle had already formed on the floor in the middle of the room.

_"Well, if you decide to make an effort not to be late anymore, do you want some advice?"_

"Sure," he said as he made his way over to his computer, making sure to avoid the puddle.

_"Ask Kara out on a date."_ Barry froze, hand inches from the computer screen.

"What are you… I mean, why would you…"

_"Oh, please. It was so obvious you two liked each other it wasn't funny. Even Oliver noticed. I'm serious. Ask that girl out, before it's too late." _

Barry shook himself out of his reverie and deliberately ignored the fluttering of butterflies that erupted in his stomach at the thought of Kara. Kara. Gorgeous, funny, badass, fearless Kara. An alien from another planet. Superman's _cousin_. She was just… perfect. He'd been enraptured with her the second he saw her on the train… and talking to her had been so _easy_. It wasn't like that with Iris. With Iris, he had to think through everything he wanted to say before it left his mouth. Every move was so calculated and terrifying. But with Kara… the ease at which they'd fit together, both on the train and in the Arrow Cave. It had scared him just a bit, how lovely being with her felt.

"She's a superpowered alien from another planet with the body of a supermodel. I've got no chance. But thanks for trying to boost my confidence."

_"You've got a lot to offer to Barry. We wouldn't have been able to find Gold if it wasn't for you, and I have to admit, it was nice to have someone with me on my side of the computer for once. Leave the punching for the people who are good at it. And I'm not just trying to boost your confidence. She was giving you cute puppy dog pinning eyes the whole time. Ask her out. You won't regret it."_

Barry wasn't so sure. Instead of answering, he sat back and finally turning the computer on.

"Oh hey, I left something for Oliver. I hope he likes it."

_"I'll make sure he gets it. Bye, Barry."_

"Bye, Felicity."

She hung up the phone, and Barry clicked onto the Central City Citizen's YouTube live stream.

"Wait a second… we're now being told to evacuate the facility," the reporter said, "The storm may have caused a malfunction to the primary cooling system. The technicians inside are trying to shut down the Particle Accelerator, but the system has so far been unresponssssss….."

All power in the room shut off at once, and a shocking _'BOOM!'_ tore through the city. Barry kicked back from the chair, rushing towards the window just in time to see STAR Labs, far in the distance, explode, throwing golden energy up into the storm above.

"Holy…" he pulled out his phone and dialled Kara's number immediately. Lightning flared around STAR, and the sky began to turn a solid golden colour.

_"Hello?"_

"Kara! Get Superman to Central City! Now! The Particle Accelerator…" A shockwave blasted out of the facility, washing over the entire city, and Barry's phone cut out.

He looked down at it and stared at the blank screen for a brief moment as his heart began to jump into his throat.

And then, all the liquids in the lab began to float out of their containers. Barry stepped back from the window, his head swivelling as he took in the dozens of vials of chemicals suddenly ignoring the laws of physics. His foot squelched in the puddle on the floor, and he looked up at the skylight, just in time for a bolt of lightning to form in the golden storm cloud above him.

The lightning bolt shattered the window, striking him in the chest and blasting him back into the shelves, dousing him in chemicals. For Barry, all the moment brought was pain. A terrifying, horrible, obliterating pain. And then nothing.

If anyone had been there to see it, yellow lightning flickered around Barry's body as he lay there in a puddle of water, blood, and toxic materials. Forgotten and alone for hours.

* * *

Clark slipped into his apartment; his mind focussed only on finally getting some sleep. He loved working with Hal. He really did. But boy was it tiring out in space.

He was just about to collapse in his bed when his phone rang.

"ugh… not now Perry…" he moaned, reaching for it. The caller ID was Kara, not his boss, so he answered it.

"Hey Kara, now really isn't a great time…"

_"GET TO CENTRAL CITY! NOW!"_

Clark jolted upright, his fatigue fleeing him in seconds.

"Kara! What's wrong?!" He asked in a rush as he bolted for the closet to get his back-up Superman suit. His usual one was with Hal on Oa, the guardians having promised to repair the damage done by Sinestro.

"Explosion… Particle Accelerator… Barry…" Kara broke down into incoherency, and Clark began to panic. Kara never let herself break down to him. He'd tried to get her to open up to him, but, well, his reputation had kind of ruined that. It was hard to make yourself vulnerable in front of 'Superman'. Even if he was your cousin. He thanked Eliza and Alex every day for giving her what he couldn't. Kara was the little sister he'd always wished he could have. And he'd always jump to her aid when she called. Regardless of how tired he might be.

"I'm on my way!" He said, shooting out of the window and breaking the sound barrier as he flew across country, "Where are you now?"

"Flying over Nevada. I was in National City for a job interview… I'll see you there." She hung up, and Clark pushed his speed to the max.

* * *

Kara reached Central City before Clark did. She'd never broken the sound barrier before, but today she'd done it as she crossed the Rockies. It was exhilarating, and it was terrifying on so many levels. All she could think about was Barry. What had happened to him? What was going on? She'd reached Clark, but it would take them both at least an hour at top speed to reach Central City.

Finally, she shot down from the sky, breaking through the cloud layer and slamming to a stop above the devastation.

Central City was on fire. Everywhere. She counted at least three dozen buildings aflame at first glance. Fire trucks raced along the streets, and smoke curled from several places where fires had already been put out.

And that wasn't even mentioning the screams. Oh, Rao how they screamed.

Kara focussed her telescopic vision below, scanning for the Central police precinct where Barry had said he worked. Eventually, she found it and breathed a sigh of relief that no fires were nearby.

Only when she reached the roof did she see the shattered skylight. She dropped inside and resisted the urge to throw up at the sight she found. This was a lab. Barry's lab. And everything appeared to have been destroyed. Shelves lay all over the place, chemicals and rainwater flooded the floor, and…

"BARRY!" She raced to the back corner of the room and used her strength to throw a metal shelving unit across the room, revealing Barry – covered in chemical burns, lying in a puddle of water and blood. She bent down beside him and trained every iota of her hearing on his heart.

_'Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.'_

She jumped back slightly in shock at the sheer speed of the pulse. That was bad. Very bad. Unnatural.

"Oh, Barry…"

She lifted him up carefully, then braced her legs and shot back through the skylight, aiming straight for the nearest hospital.

She dropped from the sky in the parking lot and pulled him inside, screaming for help. Everyone was so absorbed in themselves that no one even noticed her. Doctors appeared with a stretcher, and she placed him down on it, tears streaming down her face. A nurse led her to a seat and sat her down.

She had thought her life was finally going well! She'd saved the Arrow, taken down a supervillain, met a great guy, even gotten the job she wanted! She should have known better. The second the universe started giving her a break, it snatched everything away again.

* * *

Twelve hours later, Clark, in his civilian disguise, finally found his cousin, sitting alone on a plastic chair in Central City General Hospital.

"Kara." The second he said her name, she was on her feet, launching into his arms.

"He won't wake up," she whispered softly, "I thought… maybe I found someone who…" She trailed off, silently crying into his chest, and Clark had to admit he was slightly confused by her reaction to all this. Kara had never been to Central City before, how could she even know anyone who lived here?

Clark was literally dead on his feet by this point. Twelve hours of helping the city recover from whatever had happened at STAR Labs. Thankfully, most of the damage was electrical, not structural. The electromagnetic shockwave had wreaked havoc on any electrical device in the city, causing several fires that hadn't been too hard for Superman and various fire departments to put out. Most of the damage had been from lightning strikes. Clark had finally made it to STAR Labs itself two hours ago to examine the damage done. Seven techs were dead, the rest all injured in some way or another. Harrison Wells himself would be a paraplegic for the rest of his life. Clark had gone down into the accelerator himself to look for the cause, but hadn't been able to find anything. But whatever the origin of this disaster, Central City would be living with the repercussions for a while.

"Kara?" A voice asked from behind them.

Kara pulled away from Clark and followed the voice, and Clark did too, bringing him face to face with Oliver Queen.

"Oliver," Kara whispered, "Felicity, Sara, Dig…"

"Is he going to be okay?" a blonde woman behind Oliver, presumably Felicity, asked.

"He's in a coma, they don't know why." Kara and Felicity hugged, and Oliver stepped past Clark, another blonde at his side, to walk down the hospital corridor to stop outside a room. Clark, curious, followed them to the window. Inside, lying prone on a bed, hooked up to a dozen monitors, was a boy in his early twenties. Two people sat in seats beside him, an African American man in a police uniform and a young woman.

"Who is he?" Clark asked.

"Barry Allen. He… helped us out a few days ago."

"How does my cousin know him?"

"Cousin?" The woman asked, "You're… Him."

"She told _you?_"

"She saved my life," Oliver said, "They both did." Clark couldn't help but smile at that.

"That welcomes you into a rather exclusive club then," Clark said, offering his hand to the man. He took it, nodding.

"Oliver Queen, and this is Sara Lance," he said, gesturing to himself and the blonde beside him.

"Clark Kent. Nice to meet you, Arrow, Black Canary."

"Likewise, Superman."

Clark turned back to Kara, watching as she sobbed.

"Tell me everything…"

* * *

**The Present...**

"For the one of us who knows next to nothing about this," J'onn said, staring at Barry now, "The Particle Accelerator created a bunch of people with superpowers in Central City. Why? What did it actually do?"

Cisco explained it for her. "The Reverse-Flash, the man who killed Barry's mother, he rigged the Accelerator to explode, dispersing dark matter across the city, where it bonded to a couple of hundred people depending on what they were doing at the time the energy hit them. For example, Barry was struck by lightning and doused in chemicals used in forensic science. When he woke up, his body had developed the ability to generate a type of electrical energy known as the Speed Force, then expend that power to move at superspeed. But, Tarpit, who was a villain we faced, was dropped in a pit of molten tar when the dark matter hit, and he got turned into a walking blob of magma. Make sense?"

"That's quite fascinating," J'onn said, pointing a finger at Cisco, "It implies that the dark matter released by the detonation perhaps had a cognitive aspect. Have you researched this in any depth?"

"We did, but we could never come up with anything conclusive. The SpeedForce has a sort of… consciousness… but it's very limited in what it can do. I'd be amazed if it had anything to do with it," Barry said. J'onn didn't reply, merely staring at the timeline page in thought.

"What happened with Slade's army then?" Sara asked, following the green and blue lines on the page to a large circle marked _'Deathstroke Attacks Starling.'_

"Mostly the same I think," Ray said, his usual humorous demeanour vanishing. "Deathstroke attacks the city with his Mirakuru soldiers; 23 people, including my fiancé, Anna, die; Superman aids the Arrow and Black Canary in saving the city, and Oliver cures Deathstroke and imprisons him on the island."

"So, Superman helped us?" Sara said.

"Yep," Cisco confirmed, "after that, the Arrow is hailed as a hero, and all charges dropped."

"Then I wake up nine-months later," Barry whispered, tapping the beginning of the red line on the graph.

"Precisely. Flash sightings begin appearing shortly after, you start giving secret interviews to Iris, we meet the Man in Yellow for the first time at Christmas, then in January Snart and Rory call you out, and the Flash is revealed to the world."

"Meanwhile, in our neck of the woods," Dig continued, "Laurel is killed by Thea under Merlyn's mind control, Oliver and Sara work together to fight against Ra's Al Ghul, and…"

"I build the ATOM suit," Ray finished.

"Laurel dies? Not me?" Sara interjected.

"Yeah," Dig said, "Before she ever gets to become a Canary in her own right."

"Does she… no. I would never use the Lazarus Pit." She trailed off, following the green line marking the Arrow's timeline further down the line.

"What happens to me?"

"You leave Starling City after we stop the Alpha-Omega Virus from being released," Ray said, "You didn't tell anyone. You just left."

Sara sighed, leaning back against the seat. "Because Oliver joined the League to fight Ra's from the inside right?"

"Yeah. You… didn't take it well."

"No," She said, voice low, "I don't imagine I did."

They continued talking about Laurel, but Kara didn't know much about her, so she stared at the timeline, noticing something off. Her timeline was represented by a pink line (which she planned to have words with Cisco about later, as she hated pink). But after the Accelerator explosion, she just… vanished. Nothing about her in 2014 or 2015, until October, where, _"Supergirl Debuts catching Flight 237," _was written. Clark's blue timeline was marked with a black dot labelled, _"General Zod attacks Metropolis. Superman's origin as Alien revealed to the world," _at the same time a marking on the green timeline said, _"Oliver's identity exposed, Arrow 'dies' in prison."_

"Where am I?" She asked. Everyone looked to her as Cisco trailed off.

"What do you mean?" J'onn asked, frowning.

"Why don't I show up until the same time as normal? Surely the Particle Accelerator Explosion would have made me become a hero sooner right?"

Alex's head dropped in shame, eyes fixed on the table.

"That's my fault," she whispered, not looking up.

"Time for that first round of drinks then?" Sara suggested. They all agreed.

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S1E17 – MANHUNTER (FLASHBACK)

**February 2014**

"I know it didn't do as much as we hoped, but it helped me at least, so thanks again for coming Eliza," Kara said, phone squeezed between her shoulder and ear as she fiddled with the door to her and Alex's apartment, groceries in her free hand.

_"It's not a problem sweetie. I just wish I could have done more."_

"So do I," She muttered. The key finally clicked into the lock, and she pushed the door open. Sitting at the counter, three beers sitting empty beside her, was Alex. Her eyes were bloodshot, body twitchy, long black hair matted from not washing, skin pale. Fantastic.

"I have to go." She dropped the bag and hung up.

"Well if it isn't Kara Zor El," Alex slurred, "The Last Daughter of Krypton. My loving sister, who cared for me so much she _dobbed_ me into my _mother_." She turned to Kara, staring with such venom and loathing that she stepped back slightly. Then reasserting herself, Kara grabbed the grocery bag and stormed towards the fridge, ignoring her sister as she removed the cap of another bottle.

"I don't have time to deal with your… whatever today Alex. You aren't paying rent anymore, so I've started helping the editorial team with proof-readings to earn a little more money. It's not much, and to be honest, I'm already over my head with Miss Grant, but it allows me to keep food on our table." She placed the bag on the bench and pulled open the fridge door, proceeding to stack the milk and vegetables she'd purchased around the bottles of Alex's alcohol. At least she only bought the cheap stuff. For now.

"Next time you have a problem with me," Alex continued, not hearing her, "Talk to me, not my mother."

"She's my mother too, Alex. Remember that," Kara said coldly, pushing beer bottles out of the way. She closed the door and stacked the two cereal boxes she'd been able to afford in the cupboard.

While Alex had been paying rent, they'd been living quite comfortably. The lab had paid well, and between the two of them, they'd been able to quite comfortably afford a place on the northside of the city. However, Kara hadn't known the depth of Alex's drinking habits when she moved in. Since Alex had been fired from her job before Christmas, Kara had been handling the rent alone, and it didn't look like Alex had any intention of getting another job. Between that, the stress of working for Cat, Clark pestering her to become a hero in the wake of the Particle Accelerator disaster, and Barry – the first guy since Kenny she'd actually liked – still being in a coma… it was a miracle she was still standing. It wasn't that she didn't _want_ to become a hero either. She dreamt about it. Constantly, in fact. Her brief exposure to superheroics with Barry and the Arrow had opened her eyes to how much she could do to help people. To give back. But… right now? It just wasn't possible. She couldn't even go back to college and finish her degree, how the hell was she supposed to devote time to being a superhero as well?

Clark had offered to send her some money, though he didn't know the full extent of her situation. Kara had refused. She knew full well that Clark only made a reporter's salary, and though he was good, outstanding, at his job, it didn't mean he didn't have his own problems to deal with. No. This was her problem to deal with. She… she just really didn't want to resort to the one option she had left.

"No," Alex snarled, "She isn't. You're just some alien bitch who got dumped on us because your only real relative wanted nothing to do with you." Kara flinched as if struck, and closed the cupboard door with trembling hands. Finally, after taking several breaths and blinking several times to hide the tears welling up within her eyes, she turned around to face her sister.

"Alex," Kara said, voice bereft of any emotion, "You're drunk. Either go out or go to bed. I don't care." Kara left, making her way to the bathroom so she could take a shower. This was… how many now? Probably the seventh time they'd had this conversation. "One, two," She whispered to herself, counting under her breath. Sure enough, the second she hit the number five, a bottle smashed into the back of her head, shattering on her skin and raining glass and alcohol all over her blouse and hair.

"Thanks, Alex," she whispered, before continuing on her way.

"Don't you walk away from me, Kara! This is my house! You do as I say!" Kara froze. That was a new one. Usually, Alex stormed out at this point.

Kara slowly spun back around to face Alex. Her sister's face was flushed red, fists clenched. Great.

"You haven't paid rent for months Alex. I've been covering for us both. You don't have a job, and you reject every attempt I've made to help you. What am I supposed to do!?" She begged.

"Leave! Leave me alone! Take all that sunny Danvers crap and give it to someone who cares!" Alex shouted, standing up on unsteady legs and waving her fist. This time, she couldn't help the tears that slid down her cheeks.

"I love you, Alex," she said, voice cracking, "But if you're going to do this to yourself, I won't be a part of it anymore. I choose to remember you as dedicated, selfless and noble. Not as this wretch you've become. I'll leave. Good luck surviving without me." Kara finally made it to her bedroom and began shoving all her clothes into her suitcase. There wasn't much, thankfully. She'd left most of her belongings with Eliza in Midvale, intending to come and collect them when she was settled in. She zipped up the bag and, wincing as she heard the front door slam shut, she opened the window, and flew out into the night, feeling more crushed than even when she saw Barry lying there forgotten. Who was the forgotten one now?

* * *

**The Present…**

Everyone was staring at Alex in shock now, and it was Barry's turn to comfort Kara. She didn't even realise he'd done it until her head was buried in his chest, the scent of his aftershave flooding her nose. Beyond her closed eyes, Alex reached into her pocket and began fiddling with her keys. She pulled them out and threw them on the table.

"Three years," she whispered, a dull mortified tone clinging to her voice.

"It never got that bad in the original world," J'onn said at length, a slight tremble to his voice. "I found you one night, in prison after crashing your car. Hired you to the DEO and forced you to bring your life around."

"You did the same thing here," Alex said softly. "Only you must have gotten to me later. Because by the time I got sent to prison, I had already lost the apartment and my car. After I… After I kicked Kara out, I started gambling too. I didn't see her again for over a year. Not until I got sober."

"Where did I go?" Kara asked, lifting her head from Barry's comforting embrace and staring at Alex with tears in her eyes.

"Winn's. As far as I know, you crashed on his couch until you could get a place of your own," Alex said dejectedly.

M'gann returned with a tray of drinks, and Kara grabbed J'onn's Tokarian Ale and took a swig. The stuff burned, but right now, she didn't care. After taking two more gulps, she handed the drink to J'onn and took the glass she'd actually ordered – one with much less alcohol in it. M'gann passed the drinks around then left, leaving only Barry with nothing. She sat up and look at him with a raised eyebrow, trying to ignore what had been said moments before, and the fact that Barry's shirt was now covered in tear stains.

"It does nothing to me," he said.

"Trust me, this will." She slid the spirit over to him, and he picked up the crystal glass sceptically. Shrugging, he downed the shot in one, then chocked dramatically.

The entire table broke into laughter and applause as Barry sputtered, and Kara patted him on the back.

"My God," he exclaimed, eyes wide, "That's the first time I've felt alcohol in…" Then he deflated. "And it's gone. Great." They all laughed again as Barry stared at each person's drink in longing. In a blur of lightning even Kara had trouble keeping up with, he raced around the table trying every drink there, before slumping back in his seat even more depressed than before.

"Even Alien booze does nothing. Fantastic," he muttered, then turned towards Cisco and Ray.

"What's next?"

* * *

THE FLASH: S1E02 - THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE (COLD OPEN)

**September 2014**

Barry stood outside an apartment door in National City, really hoping that he was in the right place this time. Once he'd screwed his head back on from the whole nine-month coma, the superpowers, and fighting metahumans stuff, Iris had begun quizzing him about the young woman who kept visiting him while he was in a coma. One Kara Danvers. Iris, Kara and Felicity had apparently spent a great deal of time together while he was unconscious, and, although Iris knew nothing about Felicity's work with the Arrow and Kara's alien origins, they had become friends. Who knew, friendships born of mourning for a comatose friend. He supposed that wasn't as bizarre as a friendship formed by saving a vigilante superhero with rat poison, but still; weird.

So now, a few days after he'd woken up, he'd asked Iris where Kara was currently living. She'd told him – after a long conversation where she told him directly to ask her out about five times and indirectly another ten – and now Barry stood outside that very door. He wasn't sure whether the bouquet of flowers he'd brought was too much though. It was meant as a thank you for coming to visit him. Only that. Right? It had been nine months for crying out loud. She probably had a boyfriend anyway.

He looked down at his clothes. A loose button shirt, jeans, converse shoes. Should he change? Wear a suit or something more formal? No. No. He was just seeing her again after nine-months. Formalities would be very stupid. He looked at the flowers again.

Oh, bloody…

Steeling his nerves, he knocked on the door.

"One second!" Came Kara's voice from somewhere inside, followed by hurried footsteps. The door swung open, revealing Kara, hair fanning out around her shoulders, glasses on her nose, dressed in puppy-dog pyjamas. The second he saw her, a giant grin pasted itself on his face. Kara, on the other hand, stood in the doorway in complete and total shock, jaw hanging open and eyes blown wide.

"Barry?" She whispered.

"I brought flowers?" He said stupidly. She looked to the flowers, then reached out a finger and poked him in the chest. Then, seemingly satisfied that he was not a hallucination, she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs around him and squeezing for all she was worth. His back and ribs cracked, but Kara didn't release him. Instead, she started laughing uncontrollably.

"My Rao!" She exclaimed.

"Kara… can't… breath…" he chocked. Finally, she released him, and he took a deep harrowing breath. Then she jumped on him again.

"Oof," he breathed as all the air rushed from his lungs once more. She let go of him, then pulled him inside.

"You're awake!" She beamed, bouncing up and down in her puppy slippers. He offered her the flowers again, and she took them hesitantly, eyes sparkling.

"They're a thank you. For sitting beside me for _nine-months_. Caitlin and Iris told me you came by every few weeks, you and Felicity. She doesn't know yet… I wanted to tell you first." A massive smile on her face, Kara _skipped_ over to the kitchen and pulled out a vase to fill with water. Barry finally took in the loft. It was nice. Really nice actually. Gorgeous city views, open spaces. A nice leather couch and a flat-screen TV.

"Wow…" He whispered.

"Yeah," Kara said, placing the flowers in the bowl and staring at him in a way that made his stomach flip, "It's pretty nice, isn't it?"

"How can you afford something like this?" He asked, "I got evicted while I was in my coma."

"I know. Iris, Joe and I helped move your stuff. By the way, that Superman statuette was adorable."

Barry's face flushed red as his flipping stomach ground to a halt. She'd seen that?

Kara laughed at him.

"I'm not judging. I have one too," she admitted. Barry coughed, regaining his breath again, "So the place…"

"Oh! Right. Well, I got a raise actually."

"You got the job?!"

Kara beamed, rounding the counter to place the vase of flowers on the dinner table and begin arranging them.

"Yep. Executive Assistant to Cat Grant. I tell you, those first few months were _hell_. But I got through it, and it's much easier now. And get this, I now hold the record for the longest-lasting assistant. How cool is that!"

Barry kind of wanted to ask what happened to the other assistants but decided that probably wasn't a good idea.

Kara spun around and sat on the table, swinging her legs.

"Enough about me, Mister! You're awake! What happened?! Why didn't Iris call me?!"

"I asked her not to. I wanted to tell you in person," he told her honestly, and Kara's cheeks reddened just slightly.

"As for what happened to me, well…" He grinned, then used his speed to flash out of the room and down to an ice-cream shop he'd noticed on his run here. He raced back into her apartment in record time and placed one of the two cones in her hand, then returned to normal speed.

"YES!" Kara screamed, jumping off the table and whipping her head between Barry and the ice-cream.

"How did you! The Lightning? It was the lightning?!"

"Yeah. I woke up three days ago, and the world just kept on slowing down around me. I thought I was going mad… Then I started running, and I ran face-first into a laundry truck."

"Ha! Not so easy is it!"

"Nope," he admitted, before smirking, "I did unravel a tornado, though."

Kara beamed, then took a bite out of her ice-cream. "Awesome."

Yes. Yes, she was.


	2. The Legion of Superheroes

**PART TWO: THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES**

* * *

**The Present...**

"You brought me flowers?" Kara asked with a sly smile. Barry blushed, scratching at the back of his head.

"I suppose I did." Kara raised her hand to her mouth to hide a giggle. Then she paused. Sitting on her left index finger was a ring. A gold ring. With an _L_ and a star symbol imprinted on it.

"The Legion!" She exclaimed, holding her hand away from her face to stare at the ring. How had she not noticed she was wearing it? Mon had one exactly like it… so did Brainy. Why did _she_ have one?

Barry grabbed her hand and stared at it.

"That's cool. What is it?"

"It's a Legion Ring. But I never got one…" She trailed off, eyes flickering to Ray, who was trying not to laugh.

"What?"

Still struggling, he lifted up his own hand and showcased a similar golden ring on his own finger. Then he grabbed Sara's hand and held it up. The same ring, identical to theirs, sat there, glinting in the light.

"How did I not notice that?" Sara whispered.

"Wow," Barry said, holding up his own hand, "Wait, mine's different." Kara stared closer at her ring, and her jaw fell open just a tad. The star wasn't a star at all. It was her 'S' symbol. She glanced at Barry's and saw his star was replaced by a lightning bolt.

"I suppose that brings us to the next big change," Cisco said, gesturing to his timeline. The next black circle was marked '_Trinity Crossover: December 2015,' and _saw the green, pink and red lines all meet up for the first time.

"Trinity?" J'onn asked, stumped.

"Supergirl, The Flash and the Green Arrow," Cisco, Dig, Alex and Ray said in unison.

"What?"

Cisco rolled his eyes. "In May 2015, Eddie Thawne killed himself to erase the Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne, from existence. Eddie being his ancestor, if he died, then Eobard would never be born. We thought that was the end of the Reverse-Flash. What we didn't know at the time, was that Thawne had been preserved thanks to his connection to the Negative Speed Force. The opposing force to Barry's own powers. As a result, Barry can't defeat Thawne, and Thawne can't defeat Barry. So, Thawne has made it his mission to screw with Barry's life as much as superhumanly possible. We've been dealing with incarnation after incarnation of the Reverse-Flash ever since. Every time we take him out, he just pops back up again." Barry growled in the back of his throat.

"Imagine that," he said, casting his gaze around the table. "A villain that you can't defeat, because the cosmic balance won't let you. The same person who killed your mother and sent your father to prison. Who corrupted your daughter and then _erased_ her from existence? You can't defeat him, and he can't defeat you. Locked in an eternal loop."

No one had an answer to that. Even Kara.

"So, um," Cisco continued, "the second time the Reverse Flash appeared in this new timeline was in Barry's second year as the Flash, shortly after his back was broken by Zoom."

"Wait your _back _was broken?" Kara exclaimed, punching him the shoulder, "Why did you never tell me that?!"

"It never came up?" He said, rubbing where Kara hit him.

"No!"

"Um, I broke my back fighting an evil speedster from another Earth called Zoom who was actually pretending to be my friend Jay, who was really a time-remnant of the original Zoom whose name was Hunter Zoloman. That cover everything?"

Kara narrowed her eyes at him, "We will be having words later." Barry lowered his head, gesturing for Cisco to please continue.

"It was just after Kara defeated her aunt Astra for the first time. Thawne… the Reverse-Flash… we think this was one of his first attempts to travel through time, so he wasn't too prepared for what happened next…"

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S1EP09 – THE WORLD'S FINEST

**December 2015**

Kara stood up from her desk at Catco Worldwide Media, clipboard in hand, and stepped into her boss's office on one beautiful Monday evening in National City.

Cat Grant's office, it should be noted, is not like ordinary people's offices. No. Her office is a shrine to her supreme awesomeness. A dozen TV's of different shapes and sizes are positioned on the wall behind her white modern art-deco style desk, all of them featuring one of Catco's many media channels. Catco 24/7 Worldwide News, Cat Corp News, Channel 52… even Cat TV (a children's channel) could be seen on one of the screens. And sitting, framed by the wall of news, was Cat Grant herself, typing rapidly into her computer.

Cat _liked_ to write the 'big' superhero stories for Catco Magazine herself. Right now, her big story was coming not from Supergirl, but from Central City's guardian: The Flash. Cat had lamented to Kara when the Flash had first been sighted and named about how his name sounded like someone jumping out of an ally in a trench coat. Kara had been highly offended by this, as she knew that Oliver had actually suggested the Flash, and Kara had secretly hinted the name to Iris, who had coined Barry's superhero alter-ego). Then she had gone on to complain that National City didn't have a superhero of its own. Well, National had a superhero of its own now. That didn't stop Cat Grant from writing about other heroes, however. No. She had written headline stories about Superman's fight against General Zod in May, and she'd covered the Starling City Siege by travelling to the city herself undercover. Kara had had a heart attack when Cat quite simply vanished off the face of the Earth for an entire week leaving nothing but a firmly worded sticky note on Kara's desk saying that if she called the police, she'd be fired. Now her target was the Flash's recent battle, and defeat, at the hand of the demonic speedster known as 'Zoom'.

Kara was trying very hard not to defend her sort-of-not-really-boy-friend to her boss. It was complicated. She'd flown to Central City in hysterics after she'd seen Zoom carrying what looked like Barry's corpse and parading it on live TV. By the time she got there, Zoom had been gone – returned to a place called 'Earth 2'. Barry, fortunately, had woken up soon later, and he was now walking again. She knew Oliver had called as well, but he was dealing with some magical psycho named Damien Darhk. Clark had pulled her aside when she came out as Supergirl and warned her rather forcefully of their weakness against magic, so Kara had decided that avoiding Starling City while Oliver dealt with… well, whatever his latest bad guy wanted was a good idea. Besides, she was kind of busy herself. Astra and her alien army were still out there, and she had no idea what their plan was, or when they would attack again. Clark had asked if she needed help, but she'd told him she had things handled. He was busy dealing with Lex Luthor at the moment and didn't need the distraction Astra's army would provide. Kara could handle it.

Cat, however…

"I read over the article as you asked Miss Grant," Kara said carefully, handing the dossier over to her boss. Cat took it without looking up, and Kara turned to leave.

"Well, Kiera? What do you have to say?"

Kara winced. So much for getting out of this the easy way.

"Your prose was exquisite as always Miss Grant, and I thought your humanising the Flash was a good choice."

"Kiera, I was recently talking to Sean Bean, and he told me a quote that I found quite interesting. He said, "Anything before the word 'but' is bull crap." So, keep going…"

Miss Grant watched Game of Thrones? Actually, Sean Bean probably _had_ just said it to her. That was far more likely.

"Well… I just thought maybe we should be trying to, I don't know, placate the public, not terrify them."

Miss Grant raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what happens when some metahuman monster smashes into their homes and goes on a killing spree?"

Kara swallowed, that comment striking a little close to home given Barry's family history. "I would hope they could trust the Flash to save them."

"But clearly, he is outmatched by this _Zoom_, character."

"I'm sure the Flash is working on a way to defeat Zoom, Miss Grant. We just have to have a little faith." Miss Grant narrowed her eyes at Kara.

"I hope, for Central City's sake, that you're right Kiera." Kara took that for the dismissal it was and made her way towards the door. Just as she was about to exit, the window on the far side of the bullpen surrounding Miss Grant's office exploded outwards. In its place, a shimmering blue portal began to form, red lightning crackling off it and catching a nearby computer. Everyone in the bullpen was stunned, even Kara. Dozens of people stood up from their desks or walked out of their separate offices to stare at the vortex, mouths gaping open. Miss Grant herself even stepped up behind Kara, taking her reading glasses off.

"I think you might have tempted fate, Miss Grant," Kara whispered, trying desperately to think of a way out of this one. Hank had only just used his shapeshifting powers to make Cat believe Kara wasn't Supergirl. If she changed now or took on whatever was trying to come through that thing, there would be no putting her identity back in the bottle.

James and Winn appeared beside them, and Kara glanced to James out of the corner of her eye. He nodded almost imperceptibly. He'd called Clark. But it would take time for Superman to get here, even at top speed. Perhaps she could stall? It depended on what came out of that thing. And she had a bad feeling this was more Barry's territory than hers. The lightning was a dead give-away.

A team of security guards arrived, pointing guns at the vortex. The portal convulsed slightly, collapsing in on itself, shrinking. Then, with a final pulse, it _spat_ out a man, dressed in yellow. He rolled along the floor, groaning as he crashed into things, before finally coming to rest a few metres away from Kara, Winn, James and Cat.

"Ow. Wow. There really is no way to prepare for how disorientating that is," the man said, moaning as he stood up. The safeties on the guards' weapons all clicked off simultaneously, and Cat pushed her way past Kara to stand, hands-on-hips, in front of the intruder.

"Well, that was certainly an entrance. Very Tom Hiddleston. Who are you, and what do you want? If it's an interview, I'm free for two minutes at seven." The man in yellow ignored Cat. He wore a suit similar to Barry's, with an identical cowl and symbol, but his lightning bolt was red, and backwards. Oh no. Was this the man that killed Barry's mother? Barry had said Wells was a time-traveller, but he'd also told her the monster was dead. Erased from existence. How could he be here?

The Reverse-Flash, because that was the only person it could be, cracked his back then held his palm upwards.

"Gideon? Did we make it?"

A holographic blue head appeared in his hand, then spoke back.

_"Yes, Dr Thawne. We have successfully travelled to National City in the year 2014, bypassing the Flash's temporal defences."_

"Excellent." Crap. Definitely the Reverse-Flash. Fortunately, STAR Labs had their satellite tracking temporal anomalies at all times, so with any luck, Barry was already on his way here. She just had to stall for time.

"I am not the type of person one ignores, Doctor _Thawne_," Cat stated, glaring at the man. Finally, Thawne… Wells… whoever he was, looked up and stared at Cat. Or… actually past Cat. He was looking straight at Kara.

"Kara Danvers," Thawne said, smiling beneath his mask. Oh, she was in so much trouble this time, "Just the woman I wanted to see." He shot forward as a blur, red lightning sparking with every step. Kara braced herself, ready to dodge at superspeed, then froze at the last second. He hadn't called her Supergirl, hadn't called her Kara Zor El. He had called her Kara _Danvers_. He didn't know who she was!

She didn't react, instead letting Thawne grab her by the neck and speed into Cat's office, holding her high in the air as his lightning flickered around him, sparking off Cat's computer.

"Kara!" James yelled, rushing forward stupidly until Winn grabbed him by the wrist.

"Put her down!" Cat said, voice taking on that angry tone she usually reserved for firing people who had particularly pissed her off. The security guards pushed Cat out of the way and trained their weapons on the Reverse-Flash.

"Hold on a sec," Thawne whispered to her, then he sped off. He flashed around the room, stealing the guards' weapons and sending them all flying, then returned to his previous position so fast Kara didn't even hit the ground before he'd caught her again. The urge to use her powers and just cave the guy's chest in was particularly palpable right now.

Most of the other employees screamed and ran. Not Cat. She stood there unafraid. James and Winn remained too, though they looked slightly more frightened.

"Now, where were we?" He asked pleasantly.

"Why me?" she hissed.

Thawne chuckled softly.

"Because you married _him._"

"Put her down, or I swear…" Cat demanded, but Thawne cut her off.

"Or you'll do what? I can kill you with my bare hands. Watch as I kill your little assistant if you want an example." He turned back to Kara. Then raised his free hand and began to vibrate it. Somehow, she didn't think her invulnerability would protect her from that.

Just as she was about to move, she spotted a flicker in the corner of her eye and couldn't help the grin that split across her face. A figure in red slammed into Thawne, throwing him across the room and dropping Kara to the floor.

"Thawne! You died!" Barry yelled, sliding to a stop and pulling Kara to her feet. Thawne righted himself as well.

"Good to know." Barry ran at Thawne, and the two began chasing each other, running up the walls, across the roof, through the bullpen, all of it so fast even Kara could barely follow them. To everyone else, they appeared as yellow and red balls of lightning, chasing one another through the building.

Kara coughed dramatically as James grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards the exit with Miss Grant and Winn.

"Kara, what is happening?!" Cat demanded.

"My friend Barry. He works with the Flash," she lied, trying to hastily put together a believable story.

"And you never TOLD ME!"

"Really? We're doing this now?" James asked as they ran for Cat's private elevator. Winn slammed the button, and the doors opened slowly.

"Fair point." Barry and Thawne snapped back into real-time, facing one another, Barry standing protectively in front of the elevator as Kara and the others moved inside.

"Get them to safety K… Miss Danvers!" Barry said, vibrating his voice.

"I can break your time-barrier now Flash! You can't stop me from coming back again and again and again to try and destroy you, your friends, and your legacy!" Thawne yelled. "I will kill everyone you love!"

"Not while I'm here to stop you!" Thawne shot a blast of lightning at Barry, sending him flying across the room. The elevator doors finally closed, and they began to move down. Kara leaned against the glass wall and took several deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" Winn asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she said softly, trying to take everything in. She needed a way to get out of Cat's sight so she could help Barry with… whatever this was.

"Kiera, you and I need to have a long discussion," Cat said, staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I think Kara should go to the hospital Miss Grant," James said as the doors opened on the ground floor, "We need to make sure she's not injured."

Cat huffed. "Very well. But I expect you back tomorrow, where and when you will be telling me _everything_ you know about the Flash." Cat stormed off, and once she was out of earshot, James and Winn both turned on her. Fortunately, she was already out of her clothes and flying back up the elevator shaft by the time they'd moved to demand answers.

Kara smashed through a window and flew up and into the office, but by the time she got there, the Reverse-Flash was gone. She landed on the ground, and Barry appeared beside her, pulling her into a hug.

"Thank god you're okay," he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I'm fine. What was that?"

"The Reverse-Flash. He killed my mother. He should be dead."

"Well he isn't, and now he's on the loose. Where did he go?"

Barry released her and stepped up to the broken window.

"I don't know. But… he seemed different somehow. More emotional. Every time I fought him as Wells, he was cold, calculating, always one step ahead…"

"He came out of some sort of portal. Could that explain it?" Barry threw his hands up in the air.

"Maybe. Cisco detected a massive tachyon surge coming from here, and the only time we've seen anything like that was when I've time travelled before. He must have come from the future. But _how?_ He was erased from existence." He bit his lip, then stiffened.

"Oh, god."

"What?"

"Oliver." Barry flashed down the side of the building, bolting north faster than the speed of sound. Kara followed him in the air, heading straight for Starling City. So much for not going anywhere near it.

But the entire time she flew, one single sentence kept repeating itself in her mind, over and over and over again.

"_Because you married him."_

* * *

Barry ran up the coast so fast he left electrical burns on the road behind him. He ran so fast in fact that he left even Kara following in the air long behind him. Thawne! How was he back! He'd died. Barry himself had watched as he was erased from existence. He didn't understand it, but what he could understand was Thawne's words. "I will kill everyone you love." He had gone after Kara. Barry's future self must have done something to keep the Reverse-Flash trapped in the future. This version, however, he was still alive, must be from the past of the man Barry had known. That's why he had gone after Kara and not Barry's mother. He still thought he could win, and hadn't resorted to killing Barry's younger self yet. He wasn't sure whether this Thawne knew that Kara was Supergirl, or if he was the Flash, but he knew that future Wells had known Oliver Queen was the Green Arrow before he'd come back in time. He couldn't trust that this one didn't know the same thing.

Barry flashed into Starling City, slowing down so he could weave through the streets.

"Cisco! Patch me into the Arrow Cave!"

_"Already done,"_ Cisco's voice came over the comms, _"Felicity you there?"_

_"Yep. Hey Barry, what's…"_

"Where's Oliver!?"

_"On a mission. He's fighting Damien Darhk…"_

"Where?!"

_"A warehouse on thirteenth and Alastor. What's going on?"_

"The Reverse-Flash is coming after him."

_"What?! I thought he was dead!"_

_"He's supposed to be,"_ Kara's voice broke into the comm. _"I'm two minutes behind, you're too fast for me…"_ Barry found the right street and phased inside the warehouse. The Green Arrow was pinned to a wall by Thawne, a man dressed in an elegant black suit and striking blonde hair standing with a thoughtful look on his face standing in the centre of the room – surrounded by dozens of men armed with automatic weapons. Dig and Thea were standing in a corner, somehow frozen in place.

"You're supposed to be dead," Oliver groaned.

"So I keep hearing," Thawne said. Barry threw a lightning bolt – silently thanking Jay for teaching him that trick – at Thawne, blasting him across the room.

"Well, this is entertaining," the well-dressed man, presumably Darhk, stated cheerfully. Oliver tried to pick himself up, but Darhk thrust his hand forward, and he too became immobilised. Telekinesis. That was a new one. A meta. Oliver should have called him.

Barry was too busy to deal with this guy now. Instead, he had his own arch-enemy to deal with.

Thawne had recovered and was now running full tilt at Barry, a horrific scowl on his face. Barry dove over Thawne, hitting the floor and sliding to his feet, before beginning another chase around the room.

"Well Mr Green Arrow," Darhk continued casually as if there weren't a speedster battle going on all around him, "You should really introduce me to your friends." He stepped up to Oliver and placed a hand on his chest.

Barry tried to peel away from Thawne, but the other speedster saw the move and used Barry's distraction to kick him off the roof and into free fall. He landed on his back in real-time, wincing in pain. Thawne ran up to him, kicking him at 900miles an hour and sending him into a wall.

That's when an entire _section_ of the roof ripped away, and Kara Zor El drifted down into the factory, arms folded beneath her breasts.

"Let him go, or I melt your face," she said, eyes burning blue. Darhk sighed, then gestured to his men.

"Are you going to shoot her or just stand there like idiots?" Snapped back to reality, they all opened fire on Kara, who just shook her head and let them bounce off her invulnerable suit. Barry used the distraction to run at Darhk, kicking him at superspeed across the room, which seemed to release Oliver, Dig and Thea, while Kara swooped down, bulldozing through the armed men.

"Thanks," Oliver growled as Kara landed beside them. Thawne sped to a stop in front of them.

"The World's Finest," he faux bowed, "It's an honour."

_"Arrow, Supergirl. Whatever you do, don't tell Thawne anything,_" came Cisco's voice, _"This guy isn't the Thawne we know. Harry says he must be from an earlier point in the Reverse Flash's timeline, he doesn't know any of you yet."_

"Understood," Oliver growled. Behind Thawne, Darhk finally got to his feet.

"_Now_ it's a party!" He thrust his hands forward, and Kara, Barry and Oliver all went flying backwards. Barry recovered first, landing on his feet and dodging just in time to avoid a fist from the Reverse-Flash. He caught Thawne in the leg and kicked him forward, but he recovered, and they dissolved into a chase once more.

* * *

Kara felt like she'd been sucker-punched. And, considering it usually took another Kryptonian or a very large bomb to do that, she was kind of impressed with this Darhk person. Kind of. Wouldn't stop her from punching him. As Dig and Thea ran up to Oliver's side, she flew forward, intending to hit Darhk in the stomach then perhaps kick him into the roof. Instead, Darhk held up his hand, palm forward, and a force slammed into her, locking her in place.

"Huh," Darhk said, nodding to himself, "Wasn't sure that would work, but I'll take it."

Kara thrust herself forward faster and began to brute force her way through whatever power Darhk was using against her. Grunting with effort, he raised a second hand, and Kara ground to a halt, fist extended about a metre from Darhk's chest.

"Nice trick," she said, then powered up her heat vision and blasted him. He sailed back across the room, his clothes catching fire, and the magic holding Kara in place vanished. She accelerated forward and came to a stop standing over Darhk, who was coughing and dabbing at his clothes.

"Mine are cooler." She picked Darhk up by the shirt, then punched him once in the ribs at full strength. A boom echoed through the factory, temporarily overshadowing the sound of gunfire. Darhk slammed into the concrete so hard he left a human-shaped crater. Satisfied he was dealt with, she turned back to the battlefield. Oliver, Dig and Thea were finishing up with the goons, Green Arrow disarming the last one with a bolo arrow, Speedy then punching him in the side of the head. Kara stepped over to them, and together they watched as Barry and Thawne did battle around the room, moving as lightning.

"Is there anything you can do?" Oliver asked, arrow knocked to bow.

"They're moving too fast for me to keep up with," she said, trying to follow them. She could see the figures moving in the lightning, which was more than Oliver and the others could see no doubt, but she couldn't trace their movements as they ran around the building, instead only catching after images.

"Come on Barry… You can do this," she whispered, fists balled.

"What's he doing here?" Oliver asked softly.

"Came after you. He attacked me too."

_"Head's up guys. I'm picking up another temporal anomaly, right on top of you."_

Kara and Oliver looked to one another.

"Great," they said in unison. Another blue portal appeared in the wall of the factory, and the three vigilantes all trained their weapons on it as Kara stood in front of them defensively.

A flash of red and black emerged from the portal as it slammed shut, crashing into Kara and knocking her back into the others. They all went flying, but Kara righted herself in the air, and caught a glimpse of the… creature. Barry and Thawne both slid to a stop, also staring at it.

It was a… zombified version of the two speedsters. Wearing a Black suit and trailing ashen red lightning, its face was falling apart, teeth sharpened to a point.

_"What the f?" _Cisco breathed in her ear. Oliver, Dig and Thea jumped back to their feet.

"_**EOBARD THAWNE,**_" The creature snarled, its voice grinding and baritone, possessing an echoing quality to it that left Kara feeling as though more than one person was talking out its mouth. "_**YOU WERE WARNED.**_"

"Racer!" Thawne exclaimed, voice thick with fear, throwing a hate-filled glare at Barry.

"I'll never stop Flash. One day, I'll defeat you." Thawne raced away, and the Racer took off after him, leaving Barry to let out a long shaky breath, before collapsing to the ground.

"Flash!" Kara said, rushing over to Barry and placing a hand on his back.

Oliver moved towards the crater where Kara had punched Darhk.

"Um…" Thea asked, raising her hand, "Just, like, a few questions. What just happened, who was that, how does he know us, what was that _thing,_ and we know _Supergirl_, and nobody told me?!"

"Damn it!" Oliver yelled, throwing his bow on the ground. Barry and Kara both looked towards him, then down at the crater. Darhk was gone.

* * *

Oliver led Barry and Kara to his new hideout, and they all slumped into chairs around the conference table. Kara had already called Clark to let him know the situation had been handled for the time being. Cisco and Caitlin were on a TV screen on the wall looking out at the table. It was at this point Oliver demanded answers. Answers neither Barry nor Kara had.

"But why come after us?" Oliver asked for perhaps the third time. "Does he know who we are?"

"I don't know," Barry said again.

"If it's not the same person, he must find out somehow. And he's going to come back. We need a way to stop him, and that other thing, Thawne called it the Racer."

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW OLIVER!" Barry shouted, eyes red. He sat up, shoving away his chair, and stormed away. Oliver and Kara watched him go, then Oliver turned on her.

"You need to talk to him, calm him down."

"Well if you hadn't riled him up in the first place," Kara snapped.

"Don't. You know that had nothing to do with me." She sighed, nodding her head. He was right after all.

_"On the bright side," _Caitlin said, _"We detected a time-portal outside Starling. Looks like Thawne has returned to the future for now."_

"Whatever Barry's future self-did to protect us, we need to figure out how Thawne got past it, and either repair it or replace it. Hopefully, lock him out permanently," Oliver said to the screen.

_"Agreed,"_ Cisco said, _"We'll get right on it."_ Caitlin terminated the call, and Oliver moved to sit beside Kara.

"Spill Kara."

She looked Oliver in the eye and suppressed a shiver as she stared into his discerning gaze.

"Reverse-Flash. He… he said he came after me first because… because I married _him._" Oliver raised his brows.

"You married Barry?"

Kara shrugged. "I can't think of anyone else he might have meant."

He sat back in his chair and ran a hand through the stubble on his chin.

"Makes sense," he said thoughtfully, "If I was a villain that could time-travel, I'd probably go after Felicity. Find the most important person to my enemy and take them out before they can stop me."

"Thanks," she said dryly. Oliver frowned then.

"But he didn't know who you were?"

"No. If he had, he wouldn't have wasted time trying to taunt me. He had to know the only way to kill me would be to shove that vibrating hand through my chest before I could react. He also would have called me by my real name."

"Agreed," Oliver said, "Whatever future Thawne comes from, he knows Barry, and he knows me, but he doesn't know you. Your secret identity remains intact. I recommend you make sure it stays that way." She nodded solemnly.

"Is being married to him have you that unsettled?" he asked softly, leaning forward.

"No!" she exclaimed, shaking her head rapidly. "I… Barry is amazing and funny and brilliant and clever and… he's Barry. _My_ Barry. But we haven't even gone on a date yet. How am I supposed to feel if I know something like that is preordained? I'm not sure I like the idea of marrying someone just because some message from the future told me too."

Oliver grinned, patting her hand in an odd display of affection.

"If I've learned one thing from Barry the past year, it's that nothing is certain. He can _time-travel_ for crying out loud. He can go into the past or future and change things how he sees fit. I wouldn't take Thawne's words to mean anything. All it means is that you might have married him where he comes from. Don't let that force you to do anything. If you want to go out with Barry, do so because you want to, no other reason. Also, you're going to have to ask him, because we both know he'll never pluck up the courage to do it himself." He chuckled softly to himself.

"Wow. I'm giving dating advice to an alien now. This is not what I had planned when I got on that bloody boat all those years ago." He stood up and walked away.

* * *

Barry found himself staring at the mannequins that held Team Arrow's costumes, rolling things over in his mind. This was supposed to be his problem, and now Oliver and Kara were caught up in the thick of it. Not to mention, Zoom was still out there and could return any minute. He hated Thawne so much. The man had killed his mother, now he'd tried to kill his best friend, and his… God, why did everything have to be so fracking confusing! Why couldn't something in his life be easy? Here he was, a superhero trying to fight a time-travelling nemesis hellbent on killing him and his friends, and he still couldn't ask the girl he really liked on a date.

He supposed his biggest fear would be that she said no. That any blushes or smiles directed his way had just been him miss-reading the situation. That if he finally got up the courage to ask her, she'd reject him like Iris had, and it would ruin their friendship forever.

She probably _would_ reject him. He was nothing compared to most of the people he knew. He made next to no money, was always late, and he still lived with his Dad. Not exactly a pretty enrapturing resume when she was a solar-powered goddess who could have any man she wanted.

Thawne had known something about her. Something that had made her his first target. Was it Barry's feelings for her? The way his heart tried to beat out of his chest whenever he laid eyes on her, or the way his stomach flipped when she laughed.

Grinding his teeth, he sat down on the stairs to Felicity's raised workstation and continued to stare.

"Hey," Kara's voice whispered as she sat down beside him and put her hand over his.

"Hey."

"How are you holding up?"

He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

"Honestly? I'm a little bit tired, a little bit frustrated, a little bit terrified, and a whole lot of angry."

Kara lay her head on Barry's shoulder, and his stomach tried to jump out at him again.

"I get that," she said, "But right now, anger isn't going to help anyone. All anger does is cause you to lash out. We need you focussed and at your best. Oliver and I… we can't stop Thawne on our own. We need the Flash."

"Yeah I know," he said, breathing in the strawberry scent of her shampoo, "Every time I see his face… It just sends me back to that night all over again. Where I stood by and watched her die."

"I try not to sleep while I'm stressed because I know that if I do, my brain will conjure up nightmares. Force me to relive those final moments as before my planet was destroyed forever. I'm the last daughter of a dead world Barry, but you still have a family to live for. Don't let them down by letting revenge consume you."

Barry let out a long breath, and couldn't help leaning into her in an attempt to absorb some of her warmth.

"What would I do without you?" he whispered.

Kara swallowed, then swivelled her head to look Barry straight in the eye.

"I don't know," she said, voice taking on a breathy tone that sent Barry's blood flowing somewhere he really didn't want it going. "But I know what you can do with me?"

"What?"

"Have a drink with me," she said softly, and Barry forced himself not to freeze, to continue staring into those gorgeous eyes.

"I can't get drunk."

"You haven't had Kordathian Rum."

Barry laughed. "No, I suppose I haven't."

They drifted into silence, just staring at one another for… honestly Barry wasn't sure how long it was. All good moments come to an end, unfortunately.

_"Temporal anomaly detected!"_

"Guys, you're going to want to see this!" Felicity called. Barry and Kara disentangled from one another and rushed up to Felicity's workstation, Oliver coming up from another direction. They stopped in front of a TV screen showing a security feed of the parking lot outside and were just in time to see an honest to goodness space ship materialise out of nowhere and land on the asphalt.

_"This is some serious Star Trek level awesomeness?" _Cisco muttered.

"Um…" Felicity said, sitting stunned in her chair, "Do I call the others?"

"No," Oliver said, "Barry, Kara and I will handle this." They nodded and made their way towards the elevator, Cisco and Felicity's voices carrying in the background.

_"BEST. TEAM-UP. EVER!"_

* * *

The trio stepped out onto the street, staring at the space-ship in slight awe. It was easily the size of a house, shaped kind of like a two-pronged fork. A large glowing sphere structure connected to the bow between the two prongs, and the rear was comprised of some sort of engine Oliver couldn't even _begin_ to describe.

"Do you recognise it?" Barry whispered to Kara. She shook her head.

"It's not Kryptonian, or any other species I've known. To be honest, it looks very Earth-like."

Oliver bit his lip and tensed his fingers around his bow.

"What now?" he asked.

"I think this is the point where they give their whole 'we come in peace' speech," Barry answered, deadly serious. Sure enough, a side door in the ships starboard side slid open, and a ramp extended down to the ground. Standing silhouetted in the doorway was a woman with a floor-length braid of golden hair. Not blonde hair – _golden_ hair. Her outfit screamed military: a flak jacket, belt with numerous pouches and pockets, arm and leg guards, and combat style boots. Only the colour scheme was completely off. Her coat and boots were stark white, and the underclothes a vibrant red. Stitched on her shoulder was an image of Saturn. Her eyes glowed purple.

"Who are you?" Kara called out, standing with hands-on-hips slightly in front of Barry and Oliver.

"My name is Saturn Girl, commander of the Legion of Superheroes. I'm from the 25th century, and I need your help to save the timestream."

"Let me guess," Barry said, "from the Reverse-Flash?"

"Precisely."

"Why should we trust you?" Oliver shouted back. Saturn Girl smiled mischievously.

"Because you've always trusted me, Olly. I've known you since I was a little girl. Sorry, but I can't tell you everything. Time-travel rules. I'm sure Barry can explain those to you." Oliver flinched. She knew his name. Begrudgingly, he supposed it made sense to know who he was if she was a time-traveller. But he certainly didn't know her.

Saturn Girl rolled her eyes and laughed to herself.

"Okay. You want proof? Here's your proof." She unzipped her jacket and lifted up her shirt. Displayed on her abdomen was a series of Chinese characters. A mirror image of Oliver's own magical tattoo. He resisted the urge to start in surprise. He couldn't give this girl anything else to use against him.

"Satisfied?" She asked, clearly finding the whole situation incredibly humorous. "Then come aboard the Waverider, and let's get started."

* * *

**The Present...**

"Saturn Girl?" Kara asked, putting down her drink, "You mean Imra?"

"That doesn't sound like the Imra Ardeen we knew," J'onn said. Cisco just shrugged.

"I don't know. Earth 38 stuff." Alex was staring between the two of them with an odd look on her face.

"Really? How was she different?"

"Well for starters, she was a brunette, had a personality like cardboard and was like the equivalent of a space princess," Kara said snorting in derision.

"And she married her ex-boyfriend," J'onn said. Everyone nodded.

"What?!" Kara said, glaring at them, "She was!"

"So you guys don't…?" Alex trailed off, glancing between Barry and Kara, looking incredibly stumped.

"Wow. You _don't_ know. That's a twister."

"Don't know what?" Barry and Kara asked in unison.

Alex opened her mouth, but J'onn held up a hand to forestall her.

"Wait," he said, "Let them learn it for themselves…"

* * *

THE FLASH: S4EP08 – THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES (VARIOUS TIME PERIODS)

Saturn Girl led Barry, Kara and Oliver aboard her ship, the Waverider, and Barry had to try very hard not to utterly geek out. The ship was _bigger on the inside!_ This was like living Star Wars, or Doctor Who. So what if he had superpowers? This was a spaceship that could travel through time!

And it looked kind of like STAR Labs. The walls were the same shade of chrome, though the doors and lights were all much more sci-fi. The walls had metal compartments – which looked suspiciously like the walls of the Gideon Room – embedded in them, but they didn't seem to have switches or buttons to open them. Barry had a feeling that, if he were to place his hand on the right place beside the compartment doors, they would open the same way as Thawne's hidden room.

They passed several corridors holding what looked like crew quarters, and one with a mess-hall, until finally they reached a bulkhead. Saturn Girl placed her hand on the wall beside the door, and just as he'd expected, it slid open. There were actually two doors. One that receded into the roof, and then the standard sliding door.

"Clever," Oliver muttered under his hood.

Kara bounded through the door and spun around, cape flaring.

"I've been on alien ships before, and this one is definitely not like those. It feels… human," she said, taking in the room.

"That's because it is," Saturn Girl said, leading the way onto what Barry assumed was the Bridge. It was a vast, open-plan space. The front was dominated by a captain's chair and a control console facing straight towards a large window. It seemed that the captain actually did the flying. 'Very human,' Barry silently agreed. Several more chairs – with overhead restraints – were arrayed behind the pilot, two with their own consoles and screens. Weapons and operations, perhaps? In the centre of the room was a large circular meeting table with a holographic display very similar to the Cortex in STAR Labs. On a raised and slightly closed-off section at the back of the room was what he guessed was an office for the Captain, with wooden walls, a large mahogany desk, and several shelves holding knickknacks and other objects that Barry couldn't identify.

"This ship, the Waverider, was one of five Time-ships built by the United Earth Authority in the 31st century. Us, the Legion of Superheroes, was founded to protect history from alteration by time-criminals and time-pirates, as well as provide superpowered support throughout the history of Earth when cataclysms occur, or, when Crisis events strike," she said.

"Crisis…" Barry whispered, shivering as his mind jumped to the future newspaper hidden in Star-Labs.

The pilot's chair swivelled around, revealing a man Kara's height, with blue skin and three glowing dots embedded within his forehead.

"Ah! The Leaguers. Excellent." He rose from his seat, then strode over to Barry, Kara and Oliver. Oliver reached for an arrow, and Barry grabbed his arm. The man didn't seem to notice, approaching Kara, then bowing to her.

"It truly is an honour Supergirl. Your heroic exploits are legend across history. I constructed my thesis on 21st-century history around your activities. My 17th degree from Metropolis Grand University." He took her hand and kissed it. Saturn Girl burst out laughing.

"Seriously, Brainy?"

"What?" Brainy exclaimed, straitening and holding his hands over his rib cage with fingers shaped like a diamond. "I am merely expressing admiration for the efforts of these heroic individuals and their dedication to saving the Earth. As a citizen of Earth, I am very much benefited by their continued acts to safeguard the planet. Therefore, a thank you is necessary." Barry raised an eyebrow, still watching Oliver, who was trying very hard to keep his face neutral. Kara had no such qualms. She giggled; patting 'Brainy' on the shoulder.

"It's alright. You're… um, well, you're welcome I guess."

Brainy looked positively thrilled.

"Guys, this is Querl Dox from the planet Colu. He's also known as…"

"Brainiac 5," Brainy said, looking Barry and Oliver over.

"We just call him Brainy."

"You're an alien?" Barry said, jaw-dropping open.

Brainy stiffened. "I am a techno-organic organism and twelfth level intellect from the planet Colu. As far as I am concerned, you are the aliens."

Barry threw his hands up, "Hey, no, I'm all good. You're just the first alien I've met aside from her," he said, pointing at Kara. Oliver ignored the conversation, instead walking towards the central table.

"So, if you're here to help us, then help us. Why is Thawne still alive, and how did he attack us?"

Barry and Kara looked to one another and rolled their eyes. Only Oliver Queen would not care about being on an alien space-ship. Saturn Girl, who was staring at Oliver with a look of resignation in her eyes, leaned over to Kara and whispered in her ear.

"So, he was always uptight?"

"Pretty much," Kara admitted.

"Vibe owes me ten bucks," she said, repressing a smirk.

"Well?" Oliver demanded, and Barry resisted the urge to laugh at his friend.

"Alright. Gideon?"

_"Yes, Commander?" _A giant holographic head appeared, hovering over the central console. Oliver jumped back, knocking an arrow in a single fluid movement and loosing. The broadhead sailed through the hologram and stuck, quivering, into the ship's wall.

"Don't put holes in my ship!" Brainy exclaimed, rushing over to pull the arrow out, before proceeding to caress the dented metal. "It's alright, he didn't mean to hurt you." Saturn Girl fell to her knees, cackling, and Kara raised a hand to her lips to hide her own laughter. Barry, however, was transfixed by the giant floating head. Gideon. The same technology that the Wells had used.

"Gideon?" Barry asked hesitantly, "Do you know me?"

_"Of course. Barry Allen, Director of Central City Police: CSI Division and co-owner of STAR Labs. Also known as the Flash. Founding member of the…"_

"Gideon!" Saturn Girl snapped, and the AI went silent.

"Nice try," she said, shaking her head at him.

"What!" he said in mock innocence, shrugging his shoulders.

"Someone tell me what that is!" Oliver fumed.

_"Greetings Oliver Queen,"_ Gideon said.

"Great!" Oliver exclaimed, pulling back his hood and mask, "Even the floating _head_ knows who I am!"

"_I am an artificial consciousness with access to 4000 years of historical records, Mr Queen. Your tenure as the Green Arrow is a matter of public record."_

"Fantastic," he grumbled.

"Harrison Wells… Eobard Thawne. He had a version of you, Gideon," Barry said.

_"Yes. My records indicate Eobard Thawne broke into the Hall of Justice and downloaded a version of my database in the year 2587."_

Oliver stared at Gideon's floating head, then he grabbed the table and bashed his head into it.

"I give up! Why do I bother? I swear everyone knows who I am these days. Even people whose names I don't even know!"

Saturn Girl stepped up to Oliver and patted him on the back as Kara and Barry laughed. Brainy finally decided to return, an intense frown on his face and Oliver's arrow in his hand.

"I did not see my first meeting with the Green Arrow going quite like this."

"My name, Olly, is… is Imra. Imra Ardeen. I'm a metahuman telepath, and I met you for the first time when I was four. You gave me that tattoo when I was sixteen, the day before I ran away from home to join the Legion. The same day, you told me that when you were my age, you were a horrible person and that your only hope for me was to make better decisions than you. You _can_ trust me." Oliver turned suddenly, looking Imra in the eye. Then his gaze flashed to Kara, then to Barry, then back to Imra, and he grinned.

"Okay. I'll trust you. For now."

_What?_

Barry glanced at Kara, but she just shrugged.

"Gideon," Brainy said, "Give them, the lowdown."

_"Absolutely, Captain Dox."_ Gideon's head vanished, replaced by a hologram of Eobard Thawne, a list of information beside it. _"Eobard Thawne was born in the 25th Century in Central City. When he was eleven, he watched his father kill his mother, and as a result, grew up in an orphanage. In the year 2432, obsessed with the Flash, he recreated the accident that gave Barry Allen his powers. After waking up from a coma in Central City General nine-months later, he vanished. No further records exist." _

"At some point," Imra continued, "The Flash, being you, obviously, used the Speed Force to build some sort of temporal barrier around the 21st century to stop the Reverse-Flash from travelling into the past to kill yourself before you reached your full potential."

"Yeah, he said something similar when he crashed into Catco," Kara said.

"Well clearly, he got passed it," Oliver pointed out, "Is there any way to repair it?"

"Considering no one knows how Mr Allen created this barrier, and there is next to no research available on the Speed Force to even hazard a guess at how such a thing is even possible, no," Brainy said, clearly annoyed.

"How did you guys get here then?" Barry asked.

"Our ship doesn't use the Speed Force to travel through time," Brainy explained, "Instead we use a quantum manifold to exchange the ship's positioning within time and space via Quantum Entanglement."

"Of course," Barry said, trying to remember that for Cisco and Ray.

"Do you have a plan then?" Kara asked.

"We do," Imra said, "Thawne's constant travelling through the timeline is causing extensive damage, and if he kills any one of you like he tried tonight, the entire future will be in jeopardy. We want to bring the three of you to the 25th century to try and stop Thawne before he becomes a villain in the first place."

"Thereby preventing him from going back in time and killing my mum," Barry whispered.

"Exactly. If Thawne doesn't become evil, then the alternate timeline he created when he set the Particle Accelerator off seven years early will cease to exist, restoring the natural course of history," Imra finished, clapping her hands.

"But, he was erased from existence when Eddie killed himself. How is he still alive anyway?" Kara asked.

"He was erased from _your_ timeline, not ours. Eobard will never be born in your timeline, however, because the Reverse-Flash that is using the Speed Force to travel through time now is from another timeline, when the Flash was created in 2020, not 2013, he can still actively cause damage. The Black Flash, the Speed Force's enforcer, is hunting him down, trying to erase this… time remnant version of Thawne. But so far, it hasn't caught up with him."

"Ok," Barry said, plans already flying through his mind, "Lets…"

"Barry," Oliver said, holding up a hand to forestall him, "Give us a few hours to consider, then we'll decide." Imra nodded, though Brainy looked confused.

"Fair enough. It's a lot to take in. I'll escort you out."

* * *

Once they returned to the lair, Oliver began pacing.

"This is dangerous," he said as Barry and Kara took seats at the computer terminals. Felicity and Dig had both stepped out to give them some space.

"Everything we do is dangerous, Oliver," Barry pointed out. "Think about it, if we go forward in time and defeat Thawne before be becomes more powerful, then we fix the timeline, save my mum, and stop him from back again and again and again to kill us all. You heard what Imra said if any one of us dies…"

"History goes caput," Kara said, mimicking an explosion.

"Kind of nice if you think about it."

"I don't think you're taking this seriously," Oliver said, still pacing, "We'd be going into unknown territory, without back-up or support…"

"I'm sure the Legion…" Kara interjected.

"Without back-up, we can trust. We don't know what these Legionnaires really want. Their end-goal might be completely different from what we think it is. There are too many unknown variables."

"I'll grant you that," Barry conceded, "But, we'll have each other. That has to count for something."

"Agreed," Oliver said, nodding in Barry's direction as he made another loop, "There's also the benefit of learning more about Metahumans and aliens that we may end up facing in the future. Any valuable intel we can gather will be invaluable when we come back to the present…"

Kara perked up, twisting a lock of hair between her fingers. "I think it all boils down to this: what is more dangerous? Staying here where the Reverse Flash can keep coming at us until he picks us off, or going to the future and risking ourselves anyway? My vote is for going. At least there, we'll be together. El Mayara. Stronger together."

"What about our cities?" Oliver pointed out, "I can't just leave Darhk out there, and Zoom is still on the loose, and your crazy aunt."

"I can call Superman?" Kara suggested, "He can ask Hal to check-in, watch over National for a while?"

"Jax and Professor Stein should be able to hold Central for a while, especially if Ray is open to helping. Zoom seems focussed on me, I doubt he'll bother attacking if he doesn't have me to use as a punching bag," Barry said. Kara flinched beside him, subconsciously taking Barry's hand in hers and squeezing, though whether she was comforting herself or him, she wasn't sure. Maybe a bit of both.

Oliver stopped pacing and rubbed his chin.

"I suppose I can ask Sara to come back. She won't answer my calls, but Felicity should be able to track her down. She won't let the city be at risk just because of her grudge against me. And maybe Constantine can send someone with magical powers to help with Darhk? I was going to call him anyway…"

"Also, we're forgetting something," Barry noted, "It's a time machine. They can probably take us back to the exact moment we left, or at least close." Kara nodded rapidly, pointing a thumb at Barry.

Oliver sighed, closing his eyes and counting under his breath a few times. Then he straightened his back and turned to Barry and Kara.

"Pack your bags. We're going to the future."

* * *

_"Hal says he's dealing with some dispute on Tamaran, but once he's done, he'll head to National City. I promise to keep a lookout too. Have fun in the 25th century!"_ Clark said from Kara's phone as she stepped aboard the Waverider with a duffle bag of clothes. She'd left a voicemail for Alex and Hank, telling them that she needed to go to the future to save the world. The future! This was so exciting! She was sure they would be mad at her, but whatever. The future!

"Thanks, Clark. Will call the second I get back."

_"You better! I'll want to hear it all!"_

She hung up, making her way to the Bridge, where Barry and Oliver were waiting in their civilian clothes. Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5 – whom she assumed had _nothing_ to do with Brainiac 1 given he didn't seem very homicidal – were already strapped in.

"Excellent. Back to the future then!" Brainy said, grabbing hold of one of the levers. Barry, Kara and Oliver all sat down, eyeing each other warily as the ship picked up off the ground without even a hint of G-Force.

"Smooth ride," Oliver commented.

"Inertial Dampeners," Imra said, taping away at a console. "Time-drive is clear."

Brainy steered the ship out of Starling City and up into the open sky, flying out over the Pacific Ocean at speeds that even the most advanced fighter jet would be hard-pressed to manage.

"It should be noted that you may suffer side-effects when time-travelling for the first time," Brainy said causally, "Expect extreme nausea, linguistic disorientation, intense headaches, or directional inconsistency."

"What?!" Oliver exclaimed, grabbing his restraints.

"Jumping!" Brainy pushed a lever on his steering panel, and the ocean outside vanished in a flash of golden light, replaced by what looked like a sea of green before another skyline appeared before them.

Barry blinked several times, staring out the window. Starling City was gone. Replaced by a city of soaring towers that stretched for miles. Many of the skyscrapers looked the same as modern cities, but by far the dominant architectural style was a chrome type structure, of various colours, instead of glass or metal. They were also immensely taller than any tower Barry had ever seen before.

"Wow…"

"Those buildings," Kara whispered in awe, leaning forward in her seat, "they look Kryptonian."

"They are," Imra said, swivelling her chair back to look at the trio. "In 2243 Mary-Felicity Palmer manages to combine the Firestorm transmutation matrix with her great-grandfather's molecular reduction technology to resize the bottled city of Kandor and free its inhabitants. In exchange, the Kandorians gave humanity two gifts – the means to cure Virus borne diseases, and the secrets to Kryptonian engineering."

Kara's brain fritzed for a few precious moments, her jaw falling open.

"Kandor? The people trapped inside. They're free?"

Oliver tried to ask a question, but the words that left his mouth were most definitely not in English.

"Gadzo Kan?" He froze, eyes flicking between Imra and Brainy.

"Linguistic disorientation," Brainy said once again, completely straight-faced. Barry, on the other hand, laughed his head off. Kara probably would have too, if she hadn't been so stunned. _Kandor?_ She wasn't the last Kryptonian after all! She sat there, a warm fuzzy feeling flooding her body, and she couldn't stop herself from grinning foolishly.

Finally, Barry collected himself as Oliver glared at him.

"Vishi nar markatheth!"

"Kandor," Brainiac said, speaking as though to a child, "the Capital City of the planet Krypton before it was attacked by my ancestor, the first Brainiac. The city was shrunk and placed in a suspension bottle for placement amongst the Collector's collection. Superman managed to salvage Kandor, and several dozen other shrunken cities, from Brainiac 1's ship when it attacked Metropolis in the year 2001. The Green Lantern Corps returned all the cities to their respective planets, but Brainiac's shrink ray was destroyed in the battle, and thus the cities could not be restored. With Krypton destroyed, Kandor was left in the possession of Superman, a population of 49 million Kryptonians preserved in perfect stasis inside."

Barry's eyes lit up, and he turned to stare at Kara with a massive grin on his face.

"Your people Kara! That's amazing!"

"Yeah… it is…" She breathed, her body trembling unwittingly in relief. She turned to Imra desperately,

"Can I see it? Kandor?"

"I don't see why not," Imra said, shrugging, "Once the whole Reverse-Flash business is moped up, we can pop over to New Krypton and give you a walk around."

"That is not part of the mission, Saturn Girl," Brainy pointed out.

"So? She deserves a chance to see her people alive," Imra retorted.

"Very well, Commander." Brainy turned back to his controls and began steering the ship towards a building on an island in the middle of the Mississippi. Well, she assumed it was the Mississippi, they were in Central City. The building was massive. Shaped like an aircraft hangar, but built from a material even she had ever seen before, it dwarfed everything around it by virtue of its pure majesty. It was like the White House.

"_Waverider, you are clear for landing. Welcome back."_

* * *

Barry stepped off the Waverider's gangway and stared at the 'Hall of Justice'.

It certainly screamed 'look at me!'.

Domed, with a giant glass window at the peak, the building was easily the size of a city suburb. Trees of a half-dozen different species ran in rows away from the building and the giant four-pointed star hanging above the double doors. But the thing that drew Barry's eye straight away was the enormous, elaborate, solid gold fountain/sculpture that dominated the entrance courtyard. The incredible thing? He recognised most of the figures.

Standing on either side of the sculpture, water bubbling at their feet, was a man and a woman, both with arms folded. Displayed proudly on their chests was the symbol of the House of El. The S. Barry thought the resemblance of the woman to Kara was astonishing, and Clark's wasn't wrong either. Somehow floating unsupported above each Kryptonian were two more statutes. On Clark's side was a man Barry had heard Kara speak about, though he hadn't met him. Hal Jordan. Earth's Green Lantern. The symbol on his chest and the lantern ring displayed proudly on his outstretched fist were kind of a dead give-away. Bubbles of water that somehow didn't splash straight to the ground floated around his ring hand. On Kara's side, complete in what looked like an updated version of the ATOM suit, sans the helmet, was Ray Palmer, jets of water blasting from his hands.

Between Supergirl and Superman was a raised square pedestal that created a mesmerizing waterfall effect, with a statue on each corner. One was the spitting image of Sara, bow-staff in hand, though oddly it lacked her domino mask, and the uniform looked radically different to the one Barry had last seen her wear. The next two statues were of people that Barry didn't know. Opposite the Black Canary was another woman, wearing a full bodysuit with a cowl obscuring her face. She had long hair, and a symbol of a bat displayed proudly on her chest. But it was the suit that stunned Barry. It was more like Oliver's Green Arrow suit than Sara or Kara's more form-fitting uniforms. It looked more like it was a jacket, with shoulder pads, arm and leg bracers, and a utility belt. She carried no weapon in her hands but slung over her back was a computer. _Why a computer?_ To her left was another man, in a sleek suit with a geometric bird-shaped emblem stretching from shoulder to shoulder, hands balled into fists. He did wear a mask, though the sides were far larger than the ones Oliver and Sara wore. Finally, there stood a stocky man in a more metallic suit of armour, two jagged lightning bolts stretching from shoulders to the torso. He stood with his feet planted, hands outstretched, electricity curling around his arms that let out jets of steam. His mask looked like a set of advanced goggles.

That left two.

On one final raised pedestal, a diamond to the square beneath it, stood a figure with a bow and arrow in hand, staring out to the west, head raised high. He stood the tallest of the whole group, and while a hood obscured his head, his mask was gone. The likeness to Oliver was perfect. Finally, frozen mid-run, pointed the same way the Green Arrow was staring, was _the Flash_. The lightning bolt emblem was the same, and the suit was far more streamlined. The boots ran up to his knees and tapered to points, and the devices on his ears to temper his hearing at high speed were shaped more like wings. But it was definitely him. Lightning trailed off the statute, water surging beneath his booted feet.

He lost his breath slightly.

Oliver and Kara came up beside him, bags slung over their shoulders, and stood in silence beside him for several minutes. Just… taking it all in. Eventually, Imra came up behind them and coughed. Barry, Oliver and Kara all jolted, spinning around to find the Waverider gone, and Saturn Girl changed into civilian clothes. Or, at least what Barry assumed were civilian clothes. It was sort of like a wrap, made of thin but not a see-through fabric. It wound around her chest, before tapering off at the waist to reveal a knee-length skirt beneath. She wore brown boots with flat soles that stretched up to her mid calves. Barry thought they might be made of a type of leather. Her hair remained in its long, intricate braid.

"Come on. I'll show you around," she said, seeming to understand how taken aback they were by the sheer breadth of what they were seeing. Barry wasn't even sure he had really taken it in.

Imra led them across the courtyard in silence, eventually reaching the large glass doors. They swung open at her silent command, and they stepped inside. Once again, Barry's breath left him in a sort of stunned shock.

The statues from outside were mirrored in here, with the ten figures reflected in a large hemisphere shape, a giant globe hovering in the middle of the room. Only, there were several other statues, smaller than the easily three-story high golden ones, and coloured silver instead. Barry thought he recognised Cisco, Caitlin, Thea, Roy Harper, Firestorm… but there were so many others he had no idea about. There were easily six figures wearing some variation of the Bat symbol, men and women both.

"This is the Hall of Heroes," Imra said as they continued inside. Barry, needing support, instinctively reached for Kara's hand. She took it gladly with no words spoken. "The Earth's mightiest defenders get honoured here, regardless of if, when, and how they died. No origin story is too dark, no past to horror-filled, no mistake too great, that you're removed from this hall. Throughout history, many heroes have sacrificed themselves, or sacrificed their reputations, for the greater good of humanity. They all deserve respect." In the centre of the hall, beneath the globe, was a slab of marble. A golden plaque, carved by heat-vision, adorned the front.

_"The Wall of Valour." _

Barry couldn't bring himself to get any closer to it.

Finally, a welcome distraction emerged when a woman in a green and black uniform, the symbol of the Green Lantern's shimmering over her right eye, landed outside with a backpack. The doors swung open to let her inside, and she waved to Saturn Girl.

"Hey, Els!"

"Hey, Jess! Where have you been?"

"Vega," the brunette replied, her suit melting into green energy before disappearing entirely, leaving her in a wrap and skirt not unlike Imra's, though her's left her midriff exposed, "Those guys will _never_ get along I swear. Every decade it's a new thing! Oh, the Okaran slave traders are abducting Tamaraneans! Stop enslaving people. Problem solved. Then, fifteen years later, the same argument pops up, only in reverse! That's what happens when seven sentient species develop in a system with only five habitable planets…" The mysterious 'Jess' froze, taking in Kara, Barry and Oliver.

"EEEEP!" She screamed, before flying straight for a door on the far side of the hall, a trail of green light the only sign she'd ever been there.

Imra just laughed. "That's Jessica Cruz. Green Lantern of Sector 2814, which is us. She's the seventh or so since Hal Jordan. Come on, this way." She led them to the same door Jessica used, though, by the time they arrived, she was long gone. The lights flickered on, bathing the hall in an ethereal golden glow.

"These are the guest quarters," Imra said, gesturing to about six doors in the hallway, "You can bunk here how you'd like. The elevator down there…" She pointed to the end of the corridor, where a white chrome coloured elevator was merged seamlessly with the cream painted wall. "…will take you to the various floors. Legion quarters are open only to their respective owners, obviously, but you're more than welcome to use the Gyms on levels negative five through negative thirteen. We have facilities for all super-powered, intellectual and combat abilities, or just simple fitness if that's your thing. The command and control platform is located on level three. Also, though I know you'll probably ignore me, please don't go down to the cells. The laser grids will not recognise your cellular structures and will vaporise you. Yes, that includes Kryptonian invulnerability and people moving at super speed."

Barry, Kara and Oliver each chose a bedroom (Oliver scoped out each one before picking one closest to the exit), then made their way towards the elevator, where Imra and another man were speaking. He was tall, with burnt red hair and a face covered in freckles. And he wore a Flash suit. Imra nodded to the man, who clapped her on the shoulder, before vanishing in a flash of silver lightning.

"Who's that?" Barry couldn't help asking.

"Spoilers," Imra said, a twinkle in her eye.

Oliver rolled his eyes before gesturing to the elevator.

"Let's see your plan for taking out the Reverse Flash."

Imra led them into the elevator, which had transparent walls that allowed a clear view outside the dome, and pressed the number 3 button. Kara stared at the list of numbers with a look of confusion.

"Why not a transporter?"

Imra winced. "We used to use transporters. We learned from that mistake."

"What happened?" Oliver asked.

"Let's say getting stuck seventy feet underground without any access to the surface when an electromagnetic bomb goes off that darkens the entire city is not a desirable situation and leave it at that."

The doors slid open, and Barry stepped out first.

The command and control centre was at the exact top of the globe, and formed what Barry had thought was the roof of the ground floor. In fact, it was suspended by the same anti-gravity technology as the statues outside. The roof, comprised of dozens of interlocking diamond shapes, doubled as a giant viewscreen and was currently displaying a map of the Solar System. Only Venus was marked as 'New Krypton'. There were also two points in the Asteroid Belt with names; Titan, Ganymede and Europa were all designated as separate to Jupiter, Pluto and Charon were both labelled entities, as was another object even further out called Sedna. Finally, as if Barry wasn't feeling inadequate enough already, at the very outer edge of the map was another marking, about the size of Jupiter, labelled 'Nemesis'.

In the centre of the space was a large circular console on a raised pedestal, with two breaks where ramps led down to the ground floor. A half dozen holographic screens floated above the console, and two human-looking men and a blue-skinned woman were _throwing_ screens between each other, debating something to do with String Theory. On the far side of the room, beneath what looked like a modern art painting of a web with a series of multicoloured spheres, was a glass case containing a wheelchair. _Why a wheelchair?_

Another elevator, on the exact opposite side of the Command platform, opened up to reveal Brainiac in an in-depth debate with three other people – both of them in costume. The first was an African American man wearing a suit with two patterned blue and yellow lightning bolts over the chest. The second was a young woman with more traditional shoulder-length blonde hair instead of Imra's golden locks, wearing a green leather outfit, not unlike Oliver's own suit. Slung over her shoulder was a longbow. The last person was _huge_. Easily Six-foot six. He had huge muscles, a chiselled jaw and perfectly styled black hair. And he wore blood-red armour, with a giant glowing white lightning bolt travelling from his collar to his belt. Around his shoulders hung a white and gold hooded cloak embroidered at the hems.

"I'm just saying I don't agree with this plan," the man in the armour said in a phenomenally deep voice.

"You have any better ideas?" the Oliver lookalike asked with a raised eyebrows.

"No, but that doesn't mean this is a good one."

"Point conceded Shazam," 'lightning' man said, "but the matter is closed. We voted; this was the only solution we could come up with."

"I know Lightning Lad," Shazam said, shaking his head as the two groups reached either side of the raised platform. The three people already on the platform all turned, falling silent as they stared at Barry, Kara and Oliver in awe.

"This is seriously the best day of my entire life," the blue-skinned woman whispered.

"Mal'or'I," one of the men hissed – in fact, he looked bizarrely like Cisco, same long hair, same impish vibe… "Be cool! These guys are the original trinity!"

"I know that!"

"Mal, Sanderson," Imra said, "show us what you've got." The other legionaries stopped opposite Barry, Oliver and Kara, staring at them. Imra, wisely, standing between the two groups of superheroes.

"Kara, Barry, Oliver: meet Evelyn, Sammy, Garth, and you obviously know Brainy."

"Nice to meet you," Kara said, bowing her head slightly while Barry gave a pathetic wave. Oliver said nothing.

The woman, Evelyn presumably, stepped forward and shook Kara's offered hand.

"Its… an honour to meet you, Supergirl. I've read _all_ your comic-books."

"Comic books?" Kara asked, brow crinkling.

"Oh yeah! I grew up reading all about the…" Imra shot Evelyn a glare, and the girl withered slightly, releasing Kara's hand. Then she glanced at Oliver, straightened her back, and saluted.

"Mr Green Arrow, sir!" She said, tone deadly serious despite her friend's laughter. Barry's jaw dropped open slightly, and Imra facepalmed.

"You know how to use that longbow?" Oliver asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir. I completed two-tours during the Plutonian Civil War, I was top of my class for hand-to-hand, I hold the Target Force record for per-second accuracy, and I can fire a plasma-bow three kilometres at a draw of 750 newtons. I prefer the longbow to the compound structure because I like the weight in my hand and my eye to judge the target, though I'm not above using a sniper target when conditions are poor, sir."

Oliver nodded thoughtfully, then a hint of a smile crossed his face as he looked Evelyn in the eye.

"Tomorrow, 0800, I want to shoot one of these plasma-bows."

"I'll have one ready for you, sir," Evelyn said, not breaking character for a second. Then she stepped back into line with her still laughing friends.

"Um, well, that's Artemis," Imra supplied, shrugging, "the bozo next to her is Lightning Lad, he's a descendent of Black Lightning, whom you haven't met yet…"

"And I'm Sammy Carmichael; Shazam." The man in the armour said.

"He's the biggest tank the Legion has," Imra finished, shaking her head, then she gestured to the blue-skinned alien.

"We've managed to pin-point Thawne's waking in the hospital to roughly 5pm tonight, three hours from now. That is probably your best bet to catch him."

Barry nodded, "Okay. I'll follow him, see how he goes about using his speed. If I can figure out what went wrong with Thawne, maybe I can figure out how to stop him before any of this starts."

"Brainy and I will quarterback from here, keep out of your way. Shazam and Lightning Lad will be your back-up. If things get out of hand, they'll intervene, but _only_ on your say so," Imra assured them, glaring at her two friends. Both nodded begrudgingly.

Barry turned to Oliver

"How do you want to play this?"

Oliver pursued his lips, gaze flicking to Kara, then back to Barry.

"I want Kara in stealth. Follow at a distance, undercover, ready to spring at a moment's notice."

"I can do that," she said, bouncing on her toes. Oliver turned to Brainiac.

"I need whatever counter-measure you have against Speedsters." Brainiac stiffened, glancing to Imra. She nodded her assent, then he held his hand out to Artemis. The blonde removed three arrows from her quiver, each with a modified head of red and gold.

"Temporal Piercing Arrows," she said, "these babies manipulate the Still Force to increase the density of the fourth dimension around them when activated. Basically, they nullify a Speedster's connection to the Speed Force. And they hurt. _Big Time._" Evelyn handed the arrows to Oliver, who weighed them in his hand experimentally. Barry shivered just looking at them. Those broadheads? They were his equivalent of Kryptonite. He glanced at Kara, who was looking at him with equal concern in her eyes. She knew it too.

Barry swallowed his pride.

"Let's suit up."

* * *

Barry watched Thawne, his rival, his opposite, his _enemy_, the man who killed his mother, trip over his feet at two-hundred kilometres an hour and face plant into a pile of water barrels. For the fifth time.

After waking up in Central City General – which was much bigger and much cleaner than Barry remembered it being – Thawne had instantly tried to move at superspeed. He ran into a wall, knocking over a machine. Then, when a nurse came into the room to see what the commotion was about then tripped on the very device he'd knocked over, Thawne had caught the woman and the coffee cup in her hand, righting them. He'd then apologised profusely. _Apologised._

Now, thirty minutes later, he watched as Thawne ran laps of an abandoned airfield outside Central City. It was so weird, seeing Thawne, but as himself rather than wearing Wells's face. But what had to be even harder to stomach was seeing him struggle with his powers as much as Barry himself had when he started out. Not only that, but Thawne had no one to help him. He was on his own.

Barry couldn't believe it, but he almost felt a bit _sorry_ for the man. He had such a similar story to Barry himself. Father killed his mother. Growing up in a foster home with parents who, according to all reports, had loved him just as Joe and Iris had loved Barry. A scientist. An outsider, forgotten, living on the fringes. And he had been obsessed with the Flash. Recreated the Particle Accelerator Explosion in a secret lab in the slums. _That_ was how smart this man was.

And he was out here on his own. Still alone. The lightning bolt had given Barry STAR. Cisco. Caitlin. Everything he now couldn't imagine his life without. Thawne had no one.

Was this how Barry might have turned out if he hadn't had his friends and family around him?

He didn't like where those thoughts went.

As Thawne crashed once more, cursing to himself, Barry made a decision. He couldn't just leave Thawne to this fate. To fail and fail again and again until his anger turned to hatred. Hatred against Barry and his family. _Kara… Mum… I'll save you this time. The right way._

Barry vanished, leaving his binoculars to fall in slow motion in the dirt. He ran slowly at first, keeping his use of the Speed Force to a bare minimum. Eventually, after several long minutes, he returned to Central City and activated his coms.

"Saturn Girl? You there?"

_"Read you now and clear Flash. What's the situation?"_

"I have a plan. Just to warn you though, I'm going to be making a big ass dent that's probably going to send every satellite and scanner you have on the fritz."

_"Okay?"_

_"Flash, what's our play?"_ Oliver asked.

_"You and Supergirl keep to the plan. I'm going to make contact. Time to spin Wells' tricks against him…"_

Barry ran down what had once been Central City's main shopping district – now it appeared to be a restaurant strip – and turned on the fireworks.

A sonic boom rattled every window on the street (Central City has been the centre of Earth's sound-proof glass industry since 2015) and blasted trees backwards. Lightning jumped from his body in all directions as he breathed in the vibrations of the Speed Force. He could feel it swirling around him as he ran faster and faster, feel it pulsing around him like a giant eternal heart-beat matching his rhythm step by step.

_"Flash! What are you doing?!"_

Barry ignored Kara's voice and kept running. He reached Mach 2, and kept going… Finally, as his electricity began burning away at his feet even through the suit, he felt it. A wave of energy, of vibration, crashing over him. A blue began to form… and Barry slammed on the breaks as hard as he could. The force of his deceleration sent him flying over the time-window, which snapped closed with a reverberating _'BOOM!'_. Barry crashed into a car, bounced off it, then crashed into another vehicle as the Speed Force fled his body in a rush. Three more cars he hit, before slamming into bitumen and rolling for what had to be twenty blocks.

_"That… was so incredibly stupid it wasn't funny."_

_"Are you okay?!"_

"Ow," Barry muttered, panting and grimacing at the pain lancing through his body from what had to be several broken bones and burns. Electricity jumped from his body in violent spurts for a few seconds, before slowly fading away.

The thumping heartbeat of the Speed Force was still there, and it was coming closer.

"I'll be fine. It's all part of the plan," he said, wincing.

Forcing himself to roll over onto his front, Barry began to vibrate his molecules to heal some of the more radical damage. He sat up and leaned against a car, heavy breathing. As he did so, several dozen people who had taken shelter in stores, slowly began to come back out. That's when the whispers started.

"Is that the Flash?"

"It looks like him."

"What else could have caused that sound?"

"Just another Tuesday in Central City."

"It's the Flash!"

Barry groaned again and looked down at his suit before cursing. He'd done more damage than he intended too. Cisco was going to be _so_ mad.

Finally, as the heartbeat began to fade away, another figure wreathed in golden lightning appeared from down the street, skidding to a stop a few metres from Barry and staring at him in shock.

"You're… you're _him!"_

Barry pulled himself to his feet, holding his side in pain.

"Hi there. You're a speedster? Great. Maybe you can help me. See, my name is the Flash, and I think I may be in the wrong time-period," Barry said, looking around at the buildings in not-so faux awe. He might be getting used to the future, but it was still cool.

"Holy crash," Thawne exclaimed, running a hand through his wind-slicked hair, "Um… yeah, yeah I'm a speedster. I… I just got my powers, but I can…" he swallowed, then stepped forward, offering his hand, "I'll help you get home Flash."

Barry looked into the man's eyes and could find none of the evil, the twisted hate, that had been so clear in Wells. All he could see was admiration, and determination in the way Thawne held his Barry's gaze from beneath his cowl.

So he took the hand of the man who killed his mother, the man who tried to kill his friends and family, who'd ruined his sister's life, who'd murdered dozens and deliberately cursed hundreds more, who'd tried to kill his Kara, and he shook it with a smile.

_I'll get it right this time. I swear to god I'll get it right. I'll save you, Mum. The right way._

* * *

**_Meanwhile, in the 21st Century…_**

Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Sector 2814 since 2011, punched the slimy green alien into the back of a cement truck. Was that what 'Supergirl' would have done? No. She probably would have tried to talk the alien down. But Hal was a cop. An alien cop sure, but still a cop. He had a more… _direct_… approach.

_"Subject is detained. The Galactic Database possesses a match on a wanted criminal in Sector 2742. Request repatriation to Science-Cells on Oa?"_ Hal's glowing ring asked, projecting the robotic female voice he'd become so used to over the past five years it was hilarious. He still hadn't figured out how to change the voice. He personally wanted it to speak in an Irish accent, much more amusing that way. To his mind, at least. No one ever said Hal Jordan was politically correct after all. The alien jumped out of the cement, dripping sludge everywhere, and Hal created a construct boxing glove to punch him into the road.

"Sure," he said, shrugging, "Tell Salakk he's got a green light. Ha! 'Green light.' I crack myself up."

Three black sedans rolled up to the scene. Ah. The DEO. About time.

The 'secret' agents piled out of their cars, training weapons on him and his new friend. His ring had told him what species the alien was, but Hal had ignored it. He could never remember all the species names. He had a hard enough time remembering planet names!

"You're late," he said pointedly. One of the agents, a woman with short-cropped black hair, stalked up to him and pocked his uniform in the chest.

"Where's my sister!?" She snapped.

"Who?" Hal asked, wondering if maybe the woman he'd laid last night had an older sister she'd neglected to mention.

"Supergirl!" She hissed. Ohhhhh. This was Alex Danvers. Clark had warned him about her.

"I don't know," he said, "Banging the Flash in the 25th century probably." That probably wasn't the most appropriate thing to say if the look of smouldering rage that flashed in Alex's eyes was any indication.

_"Extraction complete."_

A bubble of green energy enveloped the slimy alien, before sucking him up into space.

"Great! My job's done. I'm going to get some pizza. Bye!" Hal launched into the air and shot towards Coast City, enjoying the sound of Alex Danvers screaming, "LANTERN!" echoing from behind him. Hmm, maybe that hot bird was still in his apartment…

* * *

**Authors Notes:**

Okay everyone, question time. This chapter was originally supposed to be a single chapter with the whole Legion crossover. But it got to over 20,000 words, so we figured, you know what, best to split it. That leaves the question up to you. Do you want us to post the second half of this chapter up say, tomorrow or the next day, without the endings to Season 1 of Supergirl, Season 2 of the Flash and Season 4 of Arrow, or next week with the endings?

Choice is up to you guys, let us know in with a review!


	3. End of Year 3

**Authors Notes: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Coronavirus Lockdown! We will be your entertainment for the next fifteen minutes, so step right up!**

* * *

THE PRESENT…

"Okay, back up a few minutes," Barry said, waving his hands, "who is this 'Hal' you keep mentioning?"

"Hal Jordan," Dig said, "He's the Green Lantern of Earth and the surrounding planets."

"Yes, but what _is_ a Green Lantern?"

"They're an intergalactic police force," Alex explained, "Each member wields a green power ring that allows them to harness their Willpower and use it to create physical constructs from hard light. There are over 7000 GL's in operation, two for each sector. It's quite impressive, really."

"The rings choose their bearers according to a person's ability to overcome fear, and as much as he's a brash idiot, Hal Jordan is the best of the best," Dig finished.

"We'll agree to disagree on that one," Alex muttered.

* * *

ARROW: S2EP08 – "TRINITY" (ONE MONTH LATER)

Oliver launched himself over a hover-car, rolling to his feet, bow in hand. He strafed between piles of debris, keeping his eyes fixed on the laser-blasting alien destroying the street all around him.

_"Okay, Oliver. Lesson number 5. Alien and Metahuman superpowers always come in seven types. To know how to defeat them, the first thing you need to do is identify them," _Saturn Girl's voice echoed through his mind. Her telepathic ability, while dangerous, certainly was useful. Fortunately, Oliver had trained in the art of securing the mind under Ra's Al Ghul, so he knew how to keep his darkest secrets hidden even from her probing powers.

Oliver dodged under a car, drawing a cold-fusion arrow from his quiver and knocking it to the string.

_"The first category is the Mental Powers. These powers are always the hardest for non-superpowered people to combat because you have no real defence against it. Mental abilities, generally, can only be fought off by someone else with mental abilities, like me, or by a magician or sorcerer like Constantine or Zatanna."_

Oliver slid out from the car and loosed at the alien. The arrow hit its mark, encasing him in a giant block of ice. Liquid Nitrogen. Very helpful.

A slight disturbance in the debris caused Oliver to spin around just in time to dodge the fist of a human-made of solid rock.

"But you can still punch them!" Artemis yelled from across the street, where she was fighting four ninjas.

_"She's right. Unless we're dealing with Martians, people with mental powers don't usually have any means of defending themselves from a fist other than standard combat ability. Take me, for example. I'm telepathic and telekinetic, and I've been trained in hand to hand and light weapons, but a skilled fighter will most likely defeat me if I can't disable them beforehand."_

"Understood," Oliver grumbled, dodging backwards and firing another arrow. It bounced off the man's skin. He probably should have seen that coming.

_"Mental powers come in all shapes and sizes, but variations of telepathy, telekinesis or enhanced intelligence are the most common. Clairvoyants, like Cisco Ramone, are very rare. The most dangerous one is Intuitive Aptitude."_

Oliver rolled, dropping his bow and grabbing a broken car door. He flung it right at the rock-man's face, and he stumbled backwards, allowing Oliver to recover his bow and slip back into cover, panting.

_This_ was important. He needed this. With all these superpowers becoming more and more prevalent, he needed to increase his edge if he wanted to stay competitive. He couldn't protect Starling if he couldn't _fight_ these people. This training? It was invaluable. And it made the trip more than worth it.

_"The second category is Empathic abilities; people who derive their powers from emotion. This category is by far the rarest naturally occurring power. The various Lantern Cores gain their powers from their rings, so don't count as true wielders."_

"I think they're the most dangerous," Artemis said, decking the last ninja before firing an arrow at Oliver's stone-foe. The arrow exploded before hitting its target, releasing a concussive wave that knocked the brute on its ass. Impressive. "With telepaths, at least you know something is off most of the time. You can also protect against them with the right tech. Empaths… they're often much subtler. Manipulating your emotions so delicately you don't even notice what you're doing before it's too late."

_"Examples of the few non-lantern emotional powers we've seen are Telempaths, people that can sense and manipulate emotional echoes; Empaths, who can manipulate a person's specific emotions; or people with Affinities – they gain power from other people's emotions."_

"You're forgetting one!" Artemis shouted, pouncing on the giant's head and kicking his head into the ground to knock him out.

_"No, I'm not. I'm saving it till last. Now, where was I?"_

The street exploded with a resounding _'BANG!'_ and both Oliver and Evelyn went flying in opposite directions.

_"Oh, that's right. Physical powers. These powers are the most common to find. Things like super strength, enhanced speed – notice the distinction between enhanced speed and superspeed – flight, regeneration, invulnerability, invisibility or enhanced senses. These types of powers are generally easy to take down because they have weaknesses you can exploit. Someone with superstrength and stone skin, for example, will be susceptible to fast and concussive attacks. The danger comes when you're facing people with full sets of physical powers. Take Kryptonians. All their abilities fall into this category, but because they compound, it makes them ridiculously hard to hurt. Most aliens will have powers from this category."_

Oliver rolled to his feet, knocking another arrow. Then he stopped, lowering his bow as a giant monster made of lava rose from the ground, roaring defiance.

_"Next up are the Kinetic Abilities. These are the most varied, and you never know just how much their powers cover. Take Hydrokinesis, for example. Can they only control water? Or can they manipulate gaseous H20 and Ice as well? It's a matter of scale."_

The monster locked eyes with Oliver, and he cursed, running down the street as heat began to blister his skin, and sweat broke out on his forehead.

_"Most Metahumans will have some variation of kinetic based powers. The key to defeating these people is to utilise their opposites. Air vs water? Air wins every time. Fire vs earth? A toss-up depending on skill, but fire vs water? We know how that's going to end before it even begins."_

Made sense. Superpowers functioned according to rules. He hadn't thought of it like that before, but when you did, it made perfect clarity. Everything has its laws. Even metahuman and alien abilities. He just had to remember that. Now, how could he apply it to Darhk? Or the Reverse Flash?

Oliver jumped through a window of one of the ruined houses on the street just in time to avoid a giant magma fist as it slammed into the road. He regained his feet quickly and moved back towards the monster, jumping through houses and gardens to stay out of its sight.

_"Molecular based powers are the most destructive, and the hardest to fight for even those of us with superpowers. These abilities, things like Life Force Manipulation, Intangibility, Space-time manipulation and the like, have a habit of turning up big bads."_

Great.

_"What you can do, besides calling a big-gun, is fight fire with fire. If your villain is using space-time manipulation, for example, your best bet is a Speedster, someone who can nullify or at least counter their powers. Life Force based villains usually need to use Death as a power source, so find a way to protect yourself from their effects with a Force that's equally as potent, like Hope or Love. Barring that, stop them from killing people, and their powers suddenly aren't that frightening." _

Oliver froze in place inside a living room. That was _very_ interesting. Then he had an idea. He exited the room, sneaking through the debris of another house until he had a line of sight towards the monster. The entire street was on fire, the very air burning, but Oliver's grip was perfectly steady.

_"The last category is tech powers. These are going to be more common on ordinary humans, but they usually have to be targeted specifically to disable. Your best bet is some sort of Technology that counters theirs. If you need something fast to temporarily disable, always try an electromagnetic pulse."_

The monster turned his way, and Oliver loosed. His arrow flew true, and it slammed into the creature's eye. It screeched in fury as it began to claw at the wound and Oliver targeted the other eye. An arrow from Artemis beat him to it. Her shot exploded, taking a massive chunk of the beast's head with it, and it fell back into the crater that birthed it. Oliver rose to his feet and cracked his back.

"End simulation," Evelyn said from across the street. Slowly, the entire environment disintegrated into holographic blue light, revealing a bunker the size of three football fields constructed entirely from white chrome panels. When Imra had said the Gym was open to them, he'd foolishly believed that involved weights. He should have known better.

Evelyn, Artemis, walked over to him, slinging her bow over her shoulder.

"That was a nice shot," she said, pulling back her hood.

"Likewise." Finally, Saturn Girl herself – wearing the white and red military uniform she'd worn on the Waverider – floated down from the ceiling, purple eyes reflecting off the white floor.

"What's the last category?" he asked, "You said there were seven."

"Master abilities," she said grimly, "Powers that destroy almost anyone who tries to use them. The few who do survive usually end up being the greatest heroes, or the most horrific villains."

Oliver clenched his jaw. He'd been expecting something like that.

"Like what?"

"Reality alteration, Power Manipulation, Situation Adaptation, Time-Space Manipulation, Empathic Mimicry, the Almighty Powers…"

"And Speed Force users," Oliver finished. Both Imra and Evelyn nodded.

"We call them Conduits—people who are tethered to one of the Enigma Forces that govern the laws of the Multiverse. The Speed Force keeps time moving forward, but it lashes out, discharging excess energy. Sometimes it blasts whole universes from existence, and other times it can move solar systems between dimensions, and sometimes… it hits people," Imra said.

On that morbid note, Evelyn led the trio from the Gym. Oliver returned to his room and began writing things down. He needed to think.

* * *

**_New Krypton (what once was the planet Venus)_**

Barry and Kara held hands as they walked down the main street of Kandor City.

Kara could barely process what she was seeing. The towers, the dress, the people. If she didn't know any better, she would say that she had been transported back to Krypton centuries before the planet died. Before the ash clouds had swallowed the sky. Before the oceans had turned to acid. Before the last birds had died out.

The light that beamed down on the planet was red rather than the yellow of Earth, though that wasn't because of the sun, but rather New Krypton's high carbon-dioxide atmosphere. Barry had to wear a breather at all times to supply enough oxygen. Kara did not. Compared to the Krypton she'd grown up on, this air was perfectly clear – though she'd spent enough time on Earth to understand the difference now. Her senses had been dialled back to normal, but she still had heat vision, invulnerability and flight – her body was still absorbing the sun's yellow light, though it was in shorter supply. The incredible thing was that her strength had decreased significantly. So much so in fact that she didn't have to worry about crushing Barry's hand with hers.

It was just… so much like _home_ that it was nauseating. Kandor had been abducted before Kara had been born, but that didn't matter. The street layouts were almost identical to her home city of Argo, so she could guide Barry through the shopping districts and restaurant strips with ease. And they held hands the whole time. It was like a date almost. Except neither had called it that and for now, Kara was okay with that. Baby steps.

Eventually, once Barry's arms were sufficiently laden with shopping bags, they made their way to the centre of the city, where the Temple of Guilds was located. Kara spent most of the walk teaching Barry about how life on Krypton had been divided into guilds. The Science Guild, the Military Guild etc., and how her travel to Earth had allowed her to escape a predestined role in the Science Guild alongside her father. That had shocked Barry into a sort of silence for a while, unable to understand a life without fundamental choice as a core tenant.

Together, they exited another row of shops and emerged into a giant park filled with Kryptonian flora she'd never thought she'd ever see again. Towering over the rows of cultivated plants was an enormous temple, and flying proudly over the battlements was a flag of deep blue, with a red glyph pride and centre. The House of… El?

"What?" She exclaimed, stupefied. She had forgone her disguise as Kara Danvers today, embracing her Kryptonian heritage. Her hair was long and flowing freely over her shoulders, and she wore a Kryptonian shawl and robe. Barry wore one of the wraps from Earth – in which she could see the resemblance to the Kryptonian fashion if hidden.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"That shouldn't be flying there. It should be the Kryptonian flag." Two young women walked past her, and she called out to them.

"Excuse me!" She said in Kryptonese – and how nice was it to use that language once more – "Why do they not fly the Kryptonian Flag?"

The couple turned towards her, looks of confusion on their face.

"That _is_ the flag of New Krypton." One of them said, clearly baffled by Kara's question.

"But that's the sigil of the House of El?"

"Exactly. The symbol of Krypton's greatest heroes, why shouldn't that be our flag?" The two women moved on, leaving Kara standing in a sort of stunned silence.

"Come on," Barry beckoned, leading her to a park bench where she could look out over a garden of Miri bushes with their pink and gold flowers.

"How are you holding up?"

"It's all so surreal," she whispered, staring up at the sky and breathing deeply at the heavy air.

"Homesick?"

"No," Kara assured him, "More of a thrill actually. To know that I'm not the last, that my people live on, _thrive_ in the future. It's almost a sense of closure that I didn't know I needed."

Barry fell silent, staring at a pair of birds like hummingbirds flittering between the flowers.

"Do you want to stay?" he asked softly.

Kara started, turning to stare at him. He didn't meet her eyes, but his whole body carried a weight to it, a fear she realised, that made her want to wrap her arms around him.

Did she want to stay? She could live here as an average person. No more worrying about not fitting in, about fighting aliens or her Aunt Astra. She could just be Kara Zor El again.

But she wasn't Kara Zor El. Not really. Not anymore. Kara Zor El was who she'd been born. An alien without a world. But Kara Danvers was who she'd become. A woman who wouldn't let anyone stand in the way of doing what was right, Cat Grant's best ever assistant, Winn and James' friend, Alex's sister. If she chose to stay, she'd be giving all of that up.

The question she needed to ask was, did she want to be Kara Zor El? Or did she want to be Kara Danvers?

It surprised her how easy it was to decide.

"I'm Kara Danvers, Supergirl," she said, "My place is in the 21st Century. On Earth. These people, they don't need Kara Zor El, the orphan of old Krypton. But the people of National City? They need Supergirl. Kara Danvers means so much to so many people. Kara Zor El is just a memory now. It's time I accepted that." Barry smiled softly, finally looking her in the eye. Then he pulled her into a tight embrace, and she leant her head into his neck, breathing him in.

Yes, Kara Danvers meant something. And she wouldn't throw that away. She wouldn't throw _her_ away. She wouldn't throw _this_ away.

* * *

**_Central City, the 25th Century…_**

"GO!" Both Barry and Eobard rocketed forward, racing down the runway faster than the speed of sound. They kept pace with one another, running laps of the field, making sure to keep their rate constant. The lightning their bodies gave off was identical in shape and hue; each step they took the same distance. And with each movement, that harmonious humming reverberated through the back of Barry's mind.

It was exhilarating.

Barry turned down another runway, Eobard keeping pace beside him.

"Ready?"

Eobard nodded, determination in every fibre of his body as they ran.

"Remember what I taught you. Feel the lightning, the wind, the Speed Force pumping through your veins." He nodded again, and Barry turned his concentration to the upcoming brick wall obscuring their path. He vibrated his body, shifting himself just out of phase, and watched out of the corner of his eye as Eobard tried to do the same. His body fritzed, phasing in and out, stopping and starting… Barry phased through the wall, Eobard slammed into it with a hard '_crack!'._ Barry skidded to a stop, then raced back to where Thawne was peeling himself off the wall.

"Ow."

Barry just chuckled.

"Don't worry. You'll get it. You're doing way better than _I_ did. It took me a year to learn the Lightning toss, and you got it in an hour. An_ hour! _Don't beat yourself up," he said, patting the man on the back and helping to pull him away from the wall. It wasn't brick. Not really. It was a special type of rubber substance you could get here in the future that absorbed momentum incredibly well. Barry had already taken a sample so he could test it back at STAR Labs.

Eobard finally got free and rubbed at his face.

"I just want to learn as much as I can before you go home. If I'm going to be the Flash here, I need to know as much as I can so I can uphold your legacy." Therein lay the problem. Eobard genuinely thought Barry was training him to be a superhero. And was he wrong? Barry was teaching him to use his superspeed mainly so he could influence the man. Rub off on him. It seemed to be working at least. Eobard had taken Barry to a bar in the city, and Barry had quizzed his young future enemy about his reasons for running, just as Wells had done to him. Eobard's morality and drive were freakishly similar to Barry's own.

He was obsessed with trying to discover the truth of his mother's murder and proving his father's innocence; just as Barry was. The only difference: The Legion assured him that Thawne's father had a criminal record, and his wife had been admitted to hospital with injuries consistent with strangulation multiple times. Employing Oliver's 'don't trust anyone' ideology, he'd looked into the evidence himself, and found nothing amiss. Eobard's father deserved to be in prison.

The next scary thing was their thoughts on right and wrong. Both Barry and Thawne had a rather no-nonsense idea of justice. You were either guilty, or you weren't. Both Barry and Eobard refused to fabricate evidence or arrest without probable cause – even if the offender _was_ a danger to the public. Watch and investigate sure? But throw someone behind bars? No chance in hell. The law meant too much to both of them to even think of circumventing it.

Finally, Barry was fascinated by the determination he saw in Eobard. A commitment that reminded him… of himself. If he wanted something done, he got it done. No ifs buts or maybes. It was scary, seeing that drive from the outside. He understood a little bit better now what Iris meant when she said that he was hard to talk to when he was focussed, or Joe's insistent checking in on him to ensure he didn't get consumed in his work. It was a rather pointed awakening.

"I don't think my legacy matters as much as you think it does," Barry said. Eobard didn't know who he was, and Barry was long dead, so he couldn't do a facial scan or anything, so he didn't bother hiding his face. That being said, he hadn't told Eobard his name. No sense being utterly stupid after all.

"You need to be your own hero. Your own Flash. Only then can you grow."

Eobard shook his head.

"You really don't understand just how famous you are, do you?" Barry shrugged, and Eobard clapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on. I want to show you something."

Running at superspeed in a roughly patched suit on Barry's part, and a makeshift costume on Eobard's, the other man led Barry to a giant building that looked suspiciously familiar.

"STAR Labs…" he breathed. It _was_ STAR Labs. Just not the STAR Labs he knew. It was the same building, but the entire structure had been repaired and upgraded with the chrome architecture. The mostly abandoned houses and car parks around the building were all gone, replaced by cultivated gardens of vibrant green. And in the centre of the courtyard adjacent to the main entrance was a pedestal—a pedestal featuring a giant golden statue of the Flash mid-run. Emblazoned across the opening doors to STAR, was a giant sign done in a font he didn't recognise, stylised lightning jumping out from it. _'The Flash Museum.'_

"My God," Barry whispered. Eobard slapped him on the back, then changed into civilian clothes.

"Want to take a look?"

_"Barry," _Saturn Girl's voice rippled through his mind, _"Kara and Oliver are on site. You're good to go."_

Barry nodded dumbly to Eobard and changed his own clothes.

Eobard bought entrance tickets and led him inside as Barry just continued to stare, dumbfounded. The entire facility had been converted into a memorial, or rather a tribute to the Flash. But it wasn't just him. There was mention of at least three other Flashes – though nowhere were their identities exposed thankfully. The hallway where the Time Vault was hidden had been turned into a gallery of different Flash suits. Some of them looked really badass, others not so much. Cisco's laboratory was now called the 'League Archive', and Caitlin's medical wing was the 'Armoury' which held racks of devices and weapons Team Flash had invented over the years. To get access to the Particle Accelerator, you had to wait in a line for over thirty minutes. Once inside, Barry could see why. The Accelerator was divided in half. On the ground was an exhibit about the physics of the explosion, why and how it happened – or rather, how it was _supposed_ to have occurred in this timeline. The roof of the ring? A _rollercoaster_ had been built going around it. A 'Flashcoaster' as a matter of fact. So guests could experience what it would be like to move like the Flash. The only room that retained its original function was the Speed Canon, which had been built into a stable, permanent Breach Portal to somewhere called the 'Watchtower'. There was even a gift shop!

But the room Barry became enraptured by was a room called the 'Rogues Gallery'. It was an exhibit devoted to the Flash's Enemies. He spotted Snart's Cold Gun, Zoom's mask, the Weather Wand, Trickster's costume, and – though he had to suppress a shiver at the sight of it – the Reverse-Flash suit on a mannequin, the Tachyon device strapped to his chest. Then there were the dozens of references he didn't recognise. Villains from his future. The _'Thinking Cap', _Savitar's Suit, Killer Frost's costume, and a scary-looking spear with a lightning-bolt at the point.

The entire time he was in the Museum, Eobard made sure he didn't read any of the exhibit signs – "Protect the Timeline Barry!". Of course, he was nowhere near as annoying as Imra, who was in his brain the _entire time_ yelling at him not to know about his own future.

Finally, two hours later, Eobard led a stunned Barry out of the museum.

"Told you so."

* * *

Oliver stood in front of an exhibit in the 'Flash Museum'. An exhibition about the 'Flash Family'. Thawne had deliberately not shown Barry this exhibit he guessed, but Oliver had found it. And it just confirmed his suspicions.

There was a large circular screen with a sliding bar, that when moved, rotated between the Team Flash members with public identities.

Cisco was there, as were Caitlin, Stein, Joe and Iris. Harrison Wells appeared several times – supposedly he had numerous alternate versions of himself from Parallel Universes or something? But the names Oliver was really interested in, were Barry Allen, Kara Danvers-Allen, Ellie Allen and Alex Allen.

The database listed Barry as a forensic scientist, police informant and occasional field support. That was it. He was included amongst the original team, but there was no mention of his role as the Flash. Nor was there a photo of him. Kara – Barry's wife – was labelled as a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and informant. No Supergirl, though her connection to Lois Lane, Superman and Supergirl were noted. Finally, there was data on their two daughters.

A cough echoed through the room, and Oliver turned around to see Imra leaning against the door. All the other people in the room stiffened, before walking straight outside.

"Satisfied?" She asked softly.

"You aren't going to tell them?"

"No. And neither are you." Oliver stared into Imra's purple irises, then nodded, and together they left the room.

* * *

The next day, Barry stepped into Eobard's lab in Central City PD, whistling to himself.

"This is so much more advanced than anything we had," he said, chuckling softly to himself as he approached Eobard's desk. Kara was in the atrium – because the CCPD had an atrium now – reading a newspaper. Apparently, newspaper magazines made a major come back in the 22nd Century or something. Kara was incredibly fascinated by it. Barry was slightly more intrigued by the fact that the Periodic table had two more columns than it was supposed to. New groups, not periods. That meant there were additional electron valences they hadn't discovered yet and… it was just so _fascinating_. He'd secreted away a copy to bring back for Caitlin, Cisco and Harry.

"Flash!" Eobard exclaimed, beckoning Barry over to a very advanced and futuristic looking microscope.

"I've been looking into ways to get you back home… and I think I've stumbled upon something incredible." Barry stepped up beside the fellow speedster, and Eobard typed a series of commands into his computer. "Look at this." He moved to the side, and Barry looked into the microscope.

The definition was phenomenal. He could actually see the individual organelles of the cell in such detail… It was literally like a high definition television. But as he watched, he caught sight of what Eobard was looking at. A tiny flicker of golden electricity jumped from a ribosome, discharging throughout the cytoplasm in the cell—the Speed Force.

Barry stepped back and followed Eobard's gestured hand towards a screen.

"Energy cannot be created or destroyed, which means this Speed Force we burn as lightning when we run has to come from somewhere. So I broke down the particulate structure and used the Multiversal Quantum Positioning System STAR Labs developed to search for similar energy formations across the Orrery of Worlds. Look what I found." He tapped a key, and a grid of floating spheres appeared on his map. A space towards the upper edge, like a wall of energy, illuminated.

"Everything points to _that_ energy storm. I think this power you call the Speed Force, and it has to be some sort of reservoir, another dimension perhaps. The way you got here, time travelling. I think you must have run so fast you entered this Speed Force in your time and got spat out in mine. To get you home, all we'll have to do is reopen the gateway you used to get here." He paused then, getting an odd look in his eye.

"Flash… we could travel anywhere, any-when we wanted! We could go back in time, forward in time. Solve problems before they even happen! We could go back and stop the Plutonian Civil War! The Titan Disaster! Hell, we could go back all the way to Mars and save the Green Martians from extinction! Maybe even save Krypton!"

"No!" Barry exclaimed, stepping back in panic. "No. We can't do that. History is precious. Things happen because they need to happen. What right do we have to be judge jury and executioner? We aren't gods. We don't get to go backward or forward in time and rewrite reality on a whim."

Thawne turned on Barry, eyes darkening, jaw clenching.

"We were struck by that lightning Flash. Us. We were chosen for this power. Why shouldn't we use it?"

"We weren't chosen. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time." Barry paused, running a hand through his hair. Damn it! The whole thing was unravelling! "Think of how many lives you could change inadvertently. Think of the greater problems you could cause."

"I'm thinking of the lives I could save!" Thawne said, slamming his fist on the table.

"At what cost?"

"Whatever cost is necessary. If I can save an entire species by sacrificing the lives of a few hundred? A few thousand? I'll do it Flash. Believing otherwise is naïve."

Barry turned on his heel. "Then I'll live in naivety. If even a single life has to be spent to save another, you lose. I won't be party to the murder of millions to save trillions. And if you try it? I will stop you." He stopped at the door, turning to look Thawne in the eye once more. And then he saw it—that burning hate. The gaze Wells had worn at the end. The Reverse-Flash.

"Thank you for your help. I'll return to my time, and then I'll stay there. I suggest you stay here. If you don't, I'll find you."

Then he flashed away, anger bubbling under the surface. He grabbed Kara from her seat and ran through Central City carrying her bridal style as she screamed – though whether it was in amusement or terror, he couldn't tell.

They skidded to a halt on the Command and Control Platform in the Hall of Justice, where Oliver and Saturn Girl were waiting for them.

"Plans bust," Barry said, putting down a heavy breathing Kara, whose face was bright red, "He's going to change the timeline, no matter what I do. We need to take him down the old-fashioned way."

Imra sighed, shaking her head.

"I had a feeling," she said, before turning back to her console.

"Shazam and Artemis took most of the resident team out to Europa half an hour ago. There's been a flood in Atlantic City. Green Lantern took Lightning Lad with her back to Vega…" She began rapidly typing, bring up a list of people with identity tags beside them.

"I guess I can recall the Waverider…"

"No," Oliver said, looking between Barry and Kara. They both nodded. They could do this. "We can handle Thawne. We're better prepared, and we know each other." Imra looked like she wanted to argue, but at a withering look from Oliver, she complied. Muttering under her breath about foolish superheroes, she grabbed a wooden box from the side of the desk.

"I had Brainy make these when you got here. You aren't supposed to get them for a few years yet, but, whatever." She opened the lid and proffered the box to them. Resting inside on velvet cushions were three golden rings – stylised L symbols printed on the front. One had an arrow symbol in the top corners; one had a lightning bolt, one had the S sigil.

"What are these?" Kara asked, picking up hers and holding it to the light.

"It's a Legionnaire Surge Ring. Only forgeable on one planet in the known Universe: Roshar."

Kara eepped, holding the ring as far away from her as she could.

"Is that _safe?_"

"Reasonably."

"What do they do?" Oliver queried, taking his own ring.

"It's made out of Nth Metal from Thanagar, a substance that absorbs latent Investiture from the environment to exhibit extranormal properties. Wearing the ring grants limited access to the ten fundamental surges that govern the laws of the universe – though you can only use one at a time. They'll allow you to increase or decrease gravity around you to aid in flight or fall, accelerate your body's natural healing, increase your resistance to physical and mental attack, and heighten your sense of awareness. They also cloak while you aren't using or thinking about them. The symbol at the top contains a miniaturised pocket dimension that you can use to store your suits, and, should your identity be at risk of exposure, the ring will automatically activate a perception filter to obscure your face."

Barry whistled and took the final ring, mind flitting to the other piece of jewellery he had in his pocket; stolen from the Flash Museum.

"Impressive," Oliver muttered, sliding his on.

"Oh yeah. But for the love of Trinity, please don't lose them. Each one is worth more than this entire planet, and everything on it."

Ten minutes later, Barry, Kara and Oliver rendezvoused in the main hall, beneath the giant statues of themselves. _That _would never stop being weird, Kara thought to herself. Barry had – somehow – found an undamaged replica of his suit, and Oliver wore his costume, though he had taken one of Artemis' bows and quivers from the Armoury. He was weighing the bow in his hand when Kara strode out from the guest corridor, flexing and tweaking the bowstring. She was slightly miffed she was the only one who didn't have a new thing of her own, but she'd only just started using this suit. She could wait a bit for an upgrade.

Barry bounced on his feet, stretching his arms over his head, and when he saw Kara, he beckoned her over. Only he didn't smile at her like he usually did. That was a sure-fire sign he was absorbed in his own thoughts. She knew he was bummed by not being able to turn Thawne, but he would get over that. It had been a spur of the moment idea anyway. It didn't matter. They would stop Thawne now, and Barry's mother should be restored to life. Easy.

"Okay, here's the plan I've worked up," Oliver started, but before he could continue, an alarm blared out through the Hall, accompanied by Brainy's voice echoing over the intercom.

_"A speed force signature just triggered the Hall's perimeter alarms. Shall I deploy countermeasures?"_

"No," Oliver growled, "We fight him here."

_"Very well. I shall break out Palmer's stash of 'pop-corn'. Have fun."_

The comm shut off, and seconds later, a figure wreathed in golden lightning, appeared in front of the trio—a man wearing a Flash suit almost identical to Barry's own.

"You didn't come here by accident!" Thawne snapped, pulling back his cowl. "I analysed the residue your 'arrival' left behind! You didn't arrive on that street! You only made it look like you did! And now here you are, with _Supergirl_ and the crash damned _Green Arrow._ Why did you come here?!"

"To save you," Barry said, stepping forward as Kara floated up into the air, arms folded, and Oliver knocked an arrow. "I've seen what you become Thawne. I came here to try and put things right. To save you before you turn into a monster. You can still stop. Right here, right now. If you don't go back through history, leaving destruction in your wake, you can be the greatest Flash of us all."

"NO! You're wrong. We were chosen. _I _was chosen. It's my destiny… and you can't stop me." Thawne pulled his cowl back up and raced at Barry, right into a blast of Kara's heat vision, sending him shooting backwards. Oliver loosed his arrow, catching Thawne in the side. He howled in pain, but rose straight back to his feet, only to be punched square in the face by Barry's superspeeding fist. He tried to run away from Barry, but Kara used her own speed to dive in front of him, and he slammed into her invulnerable form, crashing into the statue of Hal Jordan. He struggled to his feet again, heavy breathing, and he threw a lightning bolt at Kara. The lightning struck her, but she didn't feel it, and blasted a gale of freeze breath at Thawne in retaliation. Barry whipped by, punching Thawne once, twice, three times, before another arrow slammed into him. It detonated, encasing Thawne's chest in ice, and Barry came to a stop. Oliver stalked over, knelt down, and punched Thawne in the face.

"Here is what's going to happen," Oliver growled, "You're going away. Deep in a cell where you can't destroy any more lives or rewrite history for your own selfish goals."

"NO!" Thawne screamed. He vibrated his molecules, and the ice shattered, blasting everyone back.

"I will save the world!" Thawne pulled himself up and began circling with Barry. "Let's see who really is the Fastest Man Alive, Flash!"

Lightning flared in Thawne's eyes, and he sped away, Barry hot on his heels. They blasted out of the Hall of Justice, vaulting through Central City's bustling streets. The two speedsters were matched in speed, so they had to resort to trick one another or dissolving into fist fighting in vain attempts to lose one another. But neither Speedster could escape the other, because with every step they ran the thumping heartbeat of the Speed Force echoed in their ears, growing more vigorous when they were together.

_"Barry!" _Kara yelled across the coms, flying through the city towers, using her x-ray vision to follow the blurs of lightning through the streets. On the ground below her, Oliver raced at ground level on a Legion issue 'Lightcycle'. It was like a motorcycle, only built from microtechnology that allowed it to fit in your pocket, had energy pulse canons, and could ride up walls. Also, it looked _really_ cool.

_"What's the play, Flash?"_ Oliver cut Kara off.

"Wait for a window, then use those arrows."

_"No! We'll find another way! If you get caught in the blast radius, Barry…" _Kara exclaimed, whipping through the towers.

"I won't be. Trust me."

Kara's swallow was audible even over the com system.

_"I'll always trust you."_

Finally, Barry chased Thawne to the same street he'd 'faux' arrived on a month ago. Neck and neck, they bolted forward, moving faster and faster and faster…

With a deafening '_KRACKOOM!'_ a spiralling blue portal broke open in the middle of the street, and this time Barry didn't stop as he ran into it. Neither did Thawne.

Central City _vanished_. Gone were the streets and the sirens and the twinkling starlight. Gone were Oliver and Kara in his ear. All that existed was the tunnel of blue energy Barry and Thawne raced through. And as they ran, windows into time-shifted around them. Barry saw those first few days after he became the Flash, he saw himself being dragged around Central City by Zoom. Glimpses of him and Kara fighting side by side, of a man in a floating chair, and of a great and terrible storm.

With another _'BOOM!' _they appeared running across a highway under a sky that definitely wasn't Earth's. For one, Jupiter was hanging in the air above them. They continued racing, Barry falling slightly behind as he tried to take in the epic scenery. Where the hell were they?

The answer soon became apparent, as Barry and Thawne raced into a warzone. Trenches filled with soldiers, hover-tanks cruising along white earth, space-ships in aerial dogfights overhead. Thawne ignored it all, aiming for a structure under a force-field on the far side of the plain.

Enough was enough. Barry lunged for Thawne, colliding with him and sending them both crashing to the dirt, leaving craters. Soldiers surrounded them in seconds as alarms blared and cannon fire filled the air, but Barry and Thawne just squared off against one another. All their focus on the other.

"This is to be one of the bloodiest wars in human history! The Titanian Disaster! Three hundred million people slaughtered!" Thawne screamed. "I can end it all now! With a single fist to a single man!"

"You don't know that! You kill one general? So what? Who is to say you don't make him a martyr? This war could claim billions instead?!"

Thawne faltered slightly, and Barry pushed the advantage. He sped forward, a sonic boom blasting all the soldiers back, and grabbed Thawne by the neck. Then he ran, faster and faster into another swirling time portal.

More windows flashed into existence around them: Barry's mother being murdered, Barry and Kara kissing, Thawne watching his father kill his mother, "We're enemies, rivals, reverses of one another…", a little girl in a pod, drifting through space…

Thawne kicked Barry in the knee, and they both lost their footing. The Speed Force spat them out, and the pair rolled clear along a footpath, eliciting screams in a language Barry couldn't understand but had heard before. He blinked several times and focussed on a red sky, full of ash. Oh, crappers…

Barry rolled onto his chest and pushed himself to his feet. Smoke rolled off Thawne's body, but he was still very much alive. And he had noticed exactly what Barry had.

"The dead planet Krypton," Thawne hissed, "How long until it explodes, taking all but two with it?"

The Kryptonians on the street had stopped screaming and running. Now they just stood astonished, staring at Barry and Thawne in curiosity.

"We could leave a message for the Guild leaders. A simple warning of the fate that awaits them. If you don't, the 3.2 billion inhabitants of this world that are about to die in the worst possible way imaginable. That's on you."

"Say you do save all these people Thawne, then what?" Barry asked, throwing his hands up in the air. They couldn't stay here. Even now, he was struggling to breathe. Surely Thawne was too. Not enough oxygen in the atmosphere.

"They get to live!"

"And what happens to Earth? An Earth without Superman or Supergirl?"

Thawne paused. "There's no way to know," Barry continued, "Brainiac is still going to attack Metropolis, Zod is still going to escape the Phantom Zone. Or what about the other alien invasions that I know are going to happen? And here's another question for you. What happens to Krypton? Does the planet die another even worse way? Do the Kryptonian people become tyrants that spread across the galaxy and murder trillions? You can't know the answer. You could wipe yourself from existence!"

Thawne sprang forward this time, but Barry was ready for him. He dodged his enemy and ran down the street in a blizzard of lightning, Thawne hot on his heels.

This time, when they entered the Speed Force, the windows all showed one thing: disasters. The Particle Accelerator Explosion, Krypton's destruction, the Martian genocide, one after the other. And as Thawne slowed, the horror finally hitting him, Barry pounced.

They emerged back in Central City, only this was the Central City of the present day. Barry's Central City.

_"Flash!" _Cisco's voice crackled as the coms synched back online. _"Whoa! Did you just time-travel!?"_

"Not now, Cisco!"

They came to a halt at the waterfront, Thawne staring around at Barry's home in wonder.

"You have to stop running Thawne! We could break the whole timeline!"

"No. I see it now! I was never meant to be the Flash, was I? You didn't come to the future to help me. You came to stop me."

He grabbed the symbol on his chest and ripped it off. Then he twisted it around and slapped it back on. In reverse.

"I'm the Reverse-Flash. Your greatest enemy."

_"Oh damn…" _Cisco breathed, _"It's a fracken origin story!"_

"Surrender now Thawne."

"No. No, I know what to do. I may not know who you are, but I know when you were born." Thawne flashed away, and Barry followed suit. They shot back into the Speed Force, and the windows cracked open again, showing images, memories, of the Reverse-Flash. And in the faint distance, Barry could hear a horrific screech.

They shot out of the time portal on the night of the Particle Accelerator Explosion. The clouds had already turned to gold, bolts of lightning already falling throughout the city in slow motion as Barry and Thawne raced up the side of Mercury Labs and soared into the air. Then he heard it… they _both_ heard it. A resounding _'thud, thud, thud,'_ emanating from the centre of the city. Thawne kicked Barry in the chest, knocking him out of rhythm just long enough for Thawne to hit the side of the building and run away a few seconds before Barry. But Barry knew precisely where he needed to go, and Thawne did not.

He reached Central City PD seconds before Thawne did, and began running around the building, charging the electricity in his veins and creating a wall of lightning. Thawne skidded to a stop outside and screamed in frustration. The lightning bolt fell from the sky, and the beating heart of the Speed Force reached a crescendo… And Barry realised what he needed to do. He broke free from his barrier as the Lightning hit his younger self, and grabbed his trail and threw it straight at Thawne.

The supercharged bolt of lightning hit Thawne right in the chest, blasting him backwards. And even as the electricity was striking him, Barry shoved Thawne through the already weakened Speed Force barrier. Barry chased Thawne into the Speed Force, pushing as much lightning out of his body as possible to draw as much of the Dark Matter from the explosion with him. And as he ran with Thawne back to the 25th Century, he released the Dark Matter behind him, forging a wall within the Speed Force itself to protect those early years from Thawne's direct manipulation. It was an odd feeling, because the Barrier was technically already there, but Barry was creating it at the same time.

Finally, they shot out of the timestream back where they started, Barry let go of Thawne, leaving his body flying through the air in standard time. Then he sped away as fast he could.

Kara barely caught the silver-blue crack in reality as it formed in the middle of the street. Fortunately, Imra and Brainy had arrived on the scene and had set up a perimeter to keep back the people gawking at Supergirl and the Green Arrow, so when it did appear for a fraction of a second, she caught it.

"Now!" She yelled, preparing a punch. Then next thing she knew, golden lightning was flaring around her, and Kara's fist smashed into flesh. Thawne's ribs crunched on her invulnerable fist, and he was thrown backward with an ugly jerk. Straight into the anti-speedster arrow Oliver fired. It slammed into his abdomen, and the villain screamed in anguish and pain as the arrowhead exploded with green energy. The wave washed over the street, but Kara felt nothing from it. Thawne though? He looked like someone having a stroke. Kara stepped over him, eyes blazing with power, as Oliver came up beside her, another arrow at the ready.

Eventually, Thawne's seizing and screaming stopped, and he collapsed, limp, to the bitumen. Unconscious. Oliver lowered his bow, and Kara nodded to him, letting out a long breath of relief. Barry skidded to a halt beside her, and she pulled him into a fierce hug.

"Are you okay?" She whispered into his ear.

"I will be." She let him go, and he grinned at Oliver.

"Alright Flash?" he asked, clearly amused.

"Yeah…" he was cut off by another '_crack!'_. Standing over Thawne's body was the zombified Flash. The one in the black suit with the melted face. Kara immediately balled her fists and Oliver raised his bow, but Barry gestured for them to wait.

He stepped forward and stared at the creature.

"What are you?"

**"_I AM THE BLACK RACER. I AM YOUR DEATH."_**

Barry looked down at Thawne.

"What are you going to do with him?"

The Racer too looked down at Thawne.

**_"IT IS NOT HIS TIME TO DIE. BUT HE WILL BE PUNISHED IF HE CONTINUES ON THE PATH OF DESTRUCTION. EVEN A FLASH CANNOT OUTRUN DEATH."_** The Racer vanished in a flurry of black lightning, and Barry let out a long sigh.

"I think I'm going to have a sleep now," he said with a tired smile. Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and Kara sped forward to catch him as he fell. She picked him up bridal style, and ran a finger over his cheek, smiling at him.

Oliver just rolled his eyes.

* * *

**_24 hours later…_**

"Urgh!" Imra exclaimed, slamming a fist on a console of the Command and Control Centre in the Hall of Justice.

"What is it?" Kara asked, standing in her Kryptonian garb with Oliver, Barry and Artemis – who had returned the previous night with a rather impressive scar over her jawline. Kara had asked about it that morning, and Evelyn had just waved the injury off, saying she'd get her biometrics reconfigured to remove it when she had time.

"It didn't fix the Aberration! Locking up Thawne and creating the Speed Force barrier should have stopped his reign of terror across history, but the alternate timeline he created when he went into the past to kill Barry remains intact!"

Barry pursed his lips, "So my mother is still dead?"

Imra looked back at Barry, face softening.

"I'm so sorry. I thought for sure it would work."

Barry took a deep breath and remembered his own words to Thawne.

"It's okay. We aren't judge, jury and executioner. We don't get to rewrite reality just because we want a differing outcome. The altered timeline… that must be the way the Universe wants history to play out."

Imra nodded, "At the very least, the Legion should be able to deal with the left-over time-quakes now that Thawne can't get inside the 21st Century to kill you all. At least, until he figures out how to bypass it. Regardless, now that the Racer is chasing future Thawne, you shouldn't have to worry about him showing up in the 21st Century again for a while."

"How are you going to deal with the other fractures to history?" Kara asked.

"I've been thinking about putting together a new team of Legionnaires. We're spread a little thin at the moment, so having a team dedicated specifically to protecting time from Thawne or any other time-criminals isn't a bad idea."

"Speaking of time," Oliver said, "We should be getting back to ours." Imra smiled at them.

"Right then. To the Waverider!"

Imra and Brainy led the way to the elevator while Artemis saluted farewell to Oliver, and Kara rushed to Imra's side.

"Um, just a suggestion, can you maybe drop us like say a week after we left. That way hopefully my sister and my boss – both my bosses really, though I'm more scared of Alex, to be honest – will have calmed down a little…"

* * *

**_Back in the 21st Century…_**

Two days after the Waverider dropped Barry, Oliver and Kara back home, Cisco, Felicity and Caitlin called the trio to STAR Labs.

"What's going on?" Barry asked, flashing into the Cortex where Oliver and Kara were already waiting.

"Firstly," Cisco said, bringing out a glass case, "I looked these babies over like you asked, and I have absolutely no idea how they work." He handed the glass box to Oliver, who opened the lid and withdrew his Legion Ring.

"It was worth a shot," he grumbled, before slipping it back on. He then handed the box to Barry and Kara, who both did the same thing.

"Second, thank you so very much for bringing back some toys from the fracking future for us to play with! The periodic table… my god that was cool…"

"Cisco!" Barry exclaimed as Kara giggled.

"Right, well, onto the main event then. While you guys were… _away…_ I got to work…" Caitlin and Felicity both coughed dramatically, and Cisco rolled his eyes.

"Fine! We got to work, we the three of us…"

"And Winn helped too," Caitlin added cheerfully, clearly enjoying Cisco's fury.

"You just want to suck the enjoyment out of everything you know that?"

"Cisco!" Oliver interrupted, "The point?"

"We built you new suits," he finished dejectedly, leaning down to push a button on the computer. Three wall panels twisted around, revealing three mannequins with three suits on them.

"Wow," Barry breathed, stepping over to the centre one. He recognised it from the Flash Museum. A lighter red, with golden piping like electricity breaking up the solid colouring. The symbol was slightly larger and the boots… the boots were there. Knee-length, tapering at the back to points. Golden yellow to match the lightning bolt symbol.

"Very nice work," Oliver said, inspecting his own suit. It was still green, obviously, but the arm guards and boots were a more solid black. His sleeves were back, and the green gave way to black under the arms and joints. The back of the suit had built-in clips for a quiver, as well as an automated revolution system that could configure and adjust arrowheads on the fly.

"OH. MY. RAO!" Kara squealed, bounding over to hers. The new design was a much lighter blue, and the 'S' shield was a bit bigger, more stylised, and featured a gold background to make the red pop better. The belt was slightly thinner, and the skirt just that little bit longer, so it brushed above her knees. Finally, the biggest difference was the way her cape hung. Instead of flaring out from the back of her collar, this cape hung around her shoulders, almost like a cloak, hanging down to her knees. _(If you want to know what Kara's new suit looks like, check out the Supergirl: Rebirth suit. Barry and Oliver's are more closely aligned to their comic selves as well)_

"It's gorgeous!" She raced over to Cisco, hugged him, then used her superspeed to change into the new outfit, completely forgetting that Barry could perceive her every movement. He had to blink several times before _that_ flattering image made it far enough through his brain that he could think coherently again.

"Each one has updated sensors and trackers for vitals, and I was able to utilise Ray's micro-cams so we can see what you're doing with better accuracy and efficiency. Oh, and Kara, I was able to line your suit with a layer of lead. Should provide some protection from Kryptonite. Tell your cousin to visit, and I'll see if I can't whip something up for him with my totally unappreciated genius."

"Thank you Cisco," Kara said, spinning around to test the skirt. "And you too Caitlin, Felicity."

"Don't mention it," Cisco said, blushing scarlet and stuttering.

As Barry took over congratulating Cisco, Kara pulled Oliver into the corridor out of earshot. Then she grabbed a lead canister she'd stashed on arrival and handed it to him gently.

"What's this?" He asked, frowning.

"Crack it open, and inside you'll find as much Kryptonite as I was able to smuggle out of the DEO without puking all over the floor." Oliver's eyes widened in alarm.

"What?! Why would you give this to me?"

She swallowed.

"Because we saw what happens when a speedster goes bad. If I ever… If something ever happens to me, I trust you to pull the trigger. Barry won't do it. Clark won't do it. Alex won't do it. I need you to promise me, Olly." Oliver looked her in the eye for several moments, then he nodded in respect and moved back into the room to place the canister with his things before the trip back to Starling City. Kara took a deep breath and made her way out of STAR Labs. Then she took out her phone and called Alex.

_"KARA DANVERS SO HELP ME GOD IF YOU EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN WITHOUT TELLING ME!"_

Kara winced, holding the phone away from her ear. Yep. She was definitely going to get it. Hanging up on Alex and bracing her legs, she shot into the sky and began the trip back to National City.

* * *

THE PRESENT...

"Wow. It's almost like having a real origin story for the Reverse Flash makes his character more compelling," Cisco said, rubbing his chin.

"What?"

"Never mind."

"Cool," Barry eventually said, admiring the ring on his finger, "A magic space ring. I mean the flying is basically worthless for me, but still, cool."

Alex huffed, "You haven't seen a lantern ring yet."

"Okay, let's move on," J'onn suggested. After a round of drinks, everyone agreed, and Cisco took up the narrative once more.

"Well, you all come back to the present, and everything is nice and easy, and we never face anything bad ever again…"

"CISCO!"

"Okay, okay! What's next? Um…" Cisco dragged his finger along the timeline from the crossover dot. Ray jumped in instead.

"Imra recruits Sara, Jax, Professor Stein, Snart, Rory and I for the Legion, and we join the crew of the Waverider with her and Brainy. And so begins our journey through time hunting down the Reverse-Flash after he escaped the Hall of Justice, and fixing the anachronisms he caused on his hunt for the Spear of Destiny to undue the shield around the 21st Century and kill the Black Racer."

"Kara goes up against Myriad at the same time we're on Earth 2," Cisco said, gesturing to him and Barry, "So we missed all of _that._"

"But to say she was super-pissed when Barry _gave up_ his powers to Zoom, would be the understatement of the century," Alex chirped, throwing a sadistic grin at Barry. Kara punched him in the elbow again, huffing.

"Lost your speed, psychotic demon monster criminal…" She muttered.

"Hey," Cisco pointed out, "You should be nicer to us. If it wasn't for the Kryptonite blocker I built into Kara's new suit, she might have gone on a red-kryptonite fuelled rage across National City. And besides, we did call her once Barry got his powers back."

"Only because you couldn't deal with an entire army of metahumans from Earth 2 on your own," Dig said, rolling his eyes.

"Point," Cisco conceded, and Sara banged her head against the headboard.

* * *

THE FLASH: S2EP22 - INVINCIBLE

**May 2016**

Joe ducked behind his car as a Metahuman with a flaming head threw a fireball at him. Dozens of powered people were pouring out of Zoom's base in CCPD, and the police were not going to be able to hold the perimeter for long.

"Damn it Flash," Captain Singh whispered from his position beside Joe, refreshing his mag, "Now would be a perfect time to show up…"

A sonic boom echoed from down the street, and in a blur of golden lightning, _The Flash_ appeared, skidding to a stop between the police and the Metahuman army.

"Hold your fire!" Singh yelled, then he turned to Joe, and grinned savagely.

"Maybe I have some Metahuman powers of my own?" He said with a laugh. Joe was not in a particular laughing mood, and instead slid his phone back into his pocket – ending the emergency call to Barry.

"I'll give you one chance to go back to your Earth," Barry yelled, vibrating his voice.

"Who's gonna make us Flash!" A man with a floating green skull for a head hissed, though how he spoke Joe wasn't sure. "You're outnumbered."

"Am I?" He asked.

Twin cracks echoed in the sky, and two figures dropped from the cloud layer. Joe and Singh glanced to one another in shock, then peeked out over the car hood. Standing on either side of the Flash, cracks in the pavement beneath their feet, were two people in red capes – a man and a woman.

"So?" Supergirl asked, flaring her hair to remove it from her face, "Who wants to get punched first?"

"I don't know," Flash said, smirking, "why don't you decide Superman?"

"Well," Superman said, floating up into the air, "I find punching the biggest person first is always the best idea." Then he shot forward, grabbed an eight-foot giant made of molten rock in the centre of the crowd, and punched him into the stratosphere.

"See?"

Flash and Supergirl looked to one another with amused expressions.

"If it works," they said, then, in a blur of lightning and a blast of wind, the three superheroes made short work of Zoom's supposed army.

Joe, Singh and the other cops slowly came out of their cover, staring open-mouthed as meta after meta was cuffed with the power dampening gauntlets then left unceremoniously on the concrete. Finally, as the last of them was punching into a wall by Superman; Flash and Supergirl stood on the stairs, and performed an intricate secret-handshake at superspeed, before hugging one another.

"Flash," Superman said, stepping up and slapping Barry on the back, "You'll have to handle this Zoom from here. Darhk's nukes could be in the air any second if Overwatch loses control of Rubicon. We can't risk not being on watch for this… not after Havenrock…"

Barry nodded firmly, "Go. I… I think I know how to deal with Zoom once and for all." Superman nodded in reply, before shooting up into the sky and vanishing.

Seemingly ignorant that they had an audience, Supergirl pulled Barry into a fierce hug which he returned with equal fervour.

"I'm sorry I can't stay, but with the deaths from Havenrock powering him…"

"You have to help Oliver with Darhk, I know."

"I'll try and get back as soon as I can," she said, releasing him.

"Go save the world, Supergirl." She smirked, then, blushing, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Then she too shot into the sky.

Barry finally turned back to his audience. He saluted, and the other cops, even Joe to his own surprise, saluted in turn.

"I'll get Zoom, I promise." Then he sped away.

They all stood, stunned, for a while, until Singh finally came to his senses.

"Let's get these crooks into lock-up. Iron Heights is going to need new cells."

* * *

THE PRESENT...

"When Darhk takes control of the world's nukes from Felicity," Dig continued, "Superman and Supergirl flew around the planet-destroying them one by one. Thankfully, Felicity and Curtis managed to find a solution before any more cities were destroyed."

"So, Oliver still kills Darhk and becomes Mayor?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, I still have trouble believing it," Dig chuckled.

"What about Zoom?" Barry asked, voice dangerously low. Everyone stared into their drinks, and Kara wrapped her arm around Barry's waist again, pulling him subtly closer to her. She wasn't sure it would do anything, but she offered what comfort she could.

"Say it. I've already figured it out."

Cisco swallowed, before forging on. "Harry and I use a vibrational device to disable the remaining Earth 2 metas. In revenge, Zoom…" he trailed off, tears building in his own eyes.

"Zoom kills Iris," Barry whispered, whole body breaking into shakes. He punched the table, stood up and stormed away.

"I'll go after him," Kara said, sliding out from the table and following after his retreating form.

The others watched them go in silence until J'onn finally spoke up.

"Forgive me for being insensitive, but I don't understand."

"Iris is Barry's foster-sister, and, in the original timeline, his wife. In the last world, Barry's father was killed by Zoom, and once he's finally defeated, Barry, utterly broken, goes back in time to save his mother from Thawne. In doing so, he creates Flashpoint: a mirage world that screws with _everyone_. Though, when you think about it, it's a miracle it was as minor as it was. Who knows what might have happened?"

They returned to silence, until eventually, Alex asked the obvious question.

"Um, when are we going to tell those two about the whole…" She stopped, then made a motion with her fingers that had Ray and J'onn cringing, and Cisco and Sara laughing.

"Honestly, I think it's going to be so much funnier to see how long it takes _them_ to figure it out."

Hey guys, so after a conversation with a commenter on Archive, I called up my sister Crystal (who's the Bat-nerd of the Fam) with an idea. For the next three hours, Miracle and I – with Crystal on the phone – rewired Arrow seasons 6-8 and Batwoman season 1 into a new show: The Gotham Knights.

The idea is simple: instead of focussing only on Batwoman (whom no one really knew much about or cared about before the show happened), we widen the playing field to showcase all the Bat-Family – an incredibly rich vault of stories that hasn't really been mined by the television industry for the gold that it is. These are characters that people have cared about and been reading for decades. The potential is endless.

So here is what we came up with. The Gotham Knights would take over the Arrow time slot after season 5 finishes, keeping a darker show in the main line up when the shows return in 2018. That way, you keep an Arrow like show, but stop having to create strange plotlines to justify its longevity. Preferably, it would be TV-MA/MA 15+ but that's a pipe dream.

**If anyone wants to take a crack at it, or has any suggestions or inputs, drop us a review or comment. We're very much willing to tinker before we lock stuff in. We hope you enjoy…**

* * *

THE GOTHAM KNIGHTS

* * *

Pilot: Follows the children of Bruce Wayne after Batman vanishes two years ago. But when Bane, the last person to see Batman alive, attacks Gotham City, Burnside resident Barbara Gordon puts out a call to her adoptive family to avenge their father. Gathering a team consisting of police detective Dick Grayson, 17-year-old CEO Tim Drake, single teen-mother Stephanie Brown and silent assassin Cassandra Cain, they set out to take down Bane and save Gotham.

Front half Season 1: Establish the five and their origins with Batman. **Batman/Bruce never appears save for a cape or cowl. **Alfred appears in the flashbacks, but not in the present. Each member – from ep 3-7 – gets a focus episode.

CROSSOVER: Crisis on Earth-X. The show doesn't crossover officially, _but_, the Knights Earth-X counterparts do appear. Dick is in a concentration camp (as per his Romani heritage); Babs is paraplegic and is also in a camp. Tim is an SS general (his origin makes him a prime candidate). Cass (who is Chinese) is a resistance fighter. Steph is one of Overgirl's Acolytes (Blonde hair, green eyes, you do the math)

Back half Season 1: Riddler emerges behind the plots, and the team has to relearn how to work together. Tease out each members scars from working with Batman.

Finale Season 1: The team defeats the Riddler in a big heroic typical finale moment at episode 20.

Secret Two-Part Finale (Here is the cool bit.) We figure, announce that there are only 20 episodes of the first season and build everything up as the Riddler being the villain, but when Riddler is defeated, the cold ending reveals the Joker and the fact that there are two extra episodes. The team discovers that the Joker was behind everything in an attempt to bring back Batman. When Batman doesn't return, Joker embarks on attacks against each team-member. Babs is crippled, Tim is framed and loses his company, Cass is abducted and forced to watch the entire thing, Steph's daughter gets kidnaped, and Dick is left holding the pieces. In a climactic battle during which Alfred returns with the Batmobile, Dick kills Joker and Tim and Steph rescue Cass and Layla (Stephanie's kid), but Barbara remains in a coma.

Season 2: Jason Todd returns gunning for Dick in revenge for killing the Joker. Tim is fighting to get his company back, while investigating Jason. Cass has left the team intending to take on all of Gotham's criminals herself to protect her family. Babs is adjusting to life in a wheelchair and figuring out what she adds to the team. Steph has appointed herself Babs' guardian and isn't letting her or Layla out of her sight. And Dick is trying to contend with the pressure of Batman's legacy after his murder of the Joker.

CROSSOVER: Elseworlds. Pull a Framework style episode from Agents of SHIELD. What is each Knights biggest choice? Then reverse it. Meet the Trinity. Oliver might know Tim from CEO stuff. Maggie knows Dick which means Alex knows Dick. Overwatch vs Oracle hacker battle. Sara knows Cass and Tim from the League of Assassins.

Season 3: Damien and Talia Al Ghul come looking for Batman. The Birds of Prey (Black Canary, Batgirl, Black Bat and Supergirl) go up against the Gotham City Sirens (Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Huntress and Enchantress)

* * *

_Characters (Mains)_

**Dick Grayson (Nightwing)**

o Roles: Leader, charisma, Lead male, Can't Brood. Class Clown. Comedic relief with Steph or surrogate when she isn't around. Very Captain America but with Iron Man's humour.

o Age: 25

o Ship: Babs. Start off as amicable ex's, get back together after mid-season. Starfire old ex? After the Killing Joke, he and Babs become serious, and at the end of season 2, Dick proposes to Babs.

o Goals: Family.

o Scar: Weight of mantle. Parents deaths.

**Barbara Gordon (Batgirl _season 1_/Oracle _Season 2 onwards_)**

o Roles: Eyes in the sky, tech guru, hacker, has the connections. Lead female. **Can't Brood.** But doesn't joke around. Dry humour. Very driven/dedicated.

o Age: 23/24

o Ship: Dick. Start off as amicable ex's, get back together after mid-season. After the Killing Joke, she and Dick become serious, and at the end of season 2, Dick proposes to her.

o Goals: To be the best

o Scar: Inadequacy/Brother/Early screw-ups. **_Season 2: Killing Joke._**

**Cassandra Cain (Orphan _season 1 and 2_/Black Bat _season 3 onwards…_)**

o Roles: Silent but deadly. Doesn't talk much, but is the rock of the fam. Hides in the shadows. Ultimate Stealth badass.

o Age: 22

o Ship: None (asexual)

o Goals: Protection

o Scar: Forced self-isolation (when your mum's Lady Shiva…)

**Jason Todd (Red Hood _season 2 onwards)_**

o Roles: Sarcasm boss and insults, brawn rather than brain, street smarts, black market, likes to kill people – pretending to be trying to reform.

o Age: 21/22

o Ship: Everyone.

o Goals: Vengeance.

o Scar: **Death.** Betrayal by 'dad'

**Tim Drake (Red Robin)**

o Roles: Engineer, detective, has money (CEO of Wayne Enterprises), Dry humour. Broods; like a fuck tonne. Perseverance in a bottle.

o Age: 17

o Ship: Complicated. Has a crush on his best friend Steph, but she is more concerned with her daughter.

o Goals: Big picture.

o Scar: League of Assassins. Guilt over causing his parents deaths.

**Stephanie Brown (Spoiler _season 1 to midseason 2_/Batgirl _mid-season 2 onwards…_)**

o Roles: Balls of steel, ultimate comic relief, class clown, audience surrogate, keeps everyone human. Cinnamon Roll. Becomes besties with Supergirl.

o Age: 17

o Ship: Complicated. Focussed on her daughter.

o Goals: Family (specifically, her daughter Layla)

o Scar: Dad was a supervillain (nuff said)

* * *

_Characters (Recurring)_

· **Clark Kent/Superman **[Regular, researching Batman's disappearance, pops over with pie, _Supergirl _vector]

· **Jennifer Pierce/Lightning **[Vector from _Black Lightning_, friends with Tim]

· **Commissioner Gordon** [Regular. Babs dad. Duh]

· James Gordon Jr [Babs brother. Duh]

· Roy Harper (Arsenal) [Vector from _Arrow_, friends with Dick]

· **Kate Kane/Batwoman** [Shows up for certain episodes, but doesn't like to hang with the Team]

· Sara Lance (Black Canary) [Vector from _Arrow_, crosses over with _Legion of Superheroes_] [Represents Tim's past with the League of Assassins

· Nyssa Al Ghul [Same as above]

· **Talia and Damian (For season 3 maybe?)**

· Luke Fox [African American, tech support when needed]

* * *

**If anyone wants to take a crack at it, or has any suggestions or inputs, drop us a review or comment. We're very much willing to tinker before we lock stuff in. We hope you enjoy…**


	4. Year 4 to Invasion

_**YEAR 4 BEGINS…**_

* * *

THE PRESENT…

Kara found Barry sitting on the roof of the bar.

"Why here?" She asked softly, sitting down beside him with her legs dangling over the street.

"When I first became the Flash," Barry told her, staring out into the distance, "I would meet Iris on the roof of Jitters, deliberately being all mysterious and spooky. I don't know, guess this just reminded me of that. When everything was simpler."

He turned to her then, tears welling in his eyes.

"Why? That's what I don't understand. Oliver built this world, he could have made it however he wanted. Why let Iris die?"

Kara swallowed, staring into those haunted eyes. She wanted to lie. Tell him it must have been an accident of some sort. But in truth, she had an idea why Oliver might have done what he did, and she found herself agreeing with it.

"Barry… you and I both know that time, wants to happen a certain way," she began hesitantly, "Maybe, you had to suffer a tragedy of some kind at Zoom's hand. If not your father, then Iris."

"So what?" He snapped, turning away from her to look back at the skyline, "The universe just hates me? Is that it? Why doesn't it hate you? Or this Hal person?"

Kara ground her teeth, "Careful Barry. I know you're hurting, but I can guarantee you I lost a hell of a lot more in a single moment than you have in your entire life. And for the record, you have no idea what Hal has been through, so don't judge until you do."

Barry took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I'm sorry. That was… mean. I know you lost everything."

Kara steadied herself, then ploughed onward.

"Barry, I think, maybe Oliver built this world without Iris in it, to give you some freedom."

Barry's head snapped back to her, confusion and anger mixing in his gaze.

"What?"

"Think about it. Everything in your life has pointed you towards being married to Iris. Quite forcefully if we're honest. You were obsessed with her for years – unhealthily. Then, just as you were getting into a better place, there was the newspaper, and Eddie died. Then, once you get involved with Patty, Zoom happens, driving the pair of you away. Earth 2, Thawne, your trips to the future, Flashpoint… The list goes on. You told me that even after you got married, you needed couples counselling. Not to mention, you constantly got in fights. Not over the basic things, but ethical things or questions of morality and power. It's almost like some narrative is forcing you back to her every time you steer towards another path. Why did Iris decide to date you anyway?"

Barry paused, and Kara could see the hurt on his face, the anguish. Rao all she wanted then was to hug him.

"After Earth 2… After she found out we were married over there."

"So, can you honestly tell me that she agreed to go out with you because she genuinely had feelings, or because she was just doing it because the Universe told her too?"

Barry didn't answer right away. Instead just sitting there, staring. But eventually, under his breath, he muttered,

"No, I can't."

Kara sighed, then, delicately, she wrapped an arm around Barry's shoulders and pulled him close.

"Maybe, just maybe, give yourself a chance to choose something, someone, for yourself. Oliver, he _rebuilt _this world for us. I don't plan on letting his sacrifice go to waste by just doing the same things. Are you?" Not thinking about what she was doing, she kissed Barry on the forehead, then stood up and went back into the bar. Leaving Barry to come to terms with… everything, on his own.

* * *

THE FLASH: S2EP23 – THE RACE OF HIS LIFE

**May 2016**

Barry threw Zoom to the ground, pulling away his mask as the Magnetar – the device that would destroy the Multiverse – exploded behind them. He looked into the face of his friend – of Jay Garrick, Hunter Zoloman – defeated on the ground. But he couldn't smile. What was a victory if his sister wasn't there to see it?

"Kill me, Barry! It's the only way! Kill me to become me!" Barry stood over his foe, and the thought did flare into his mind. Kill Zoloman, avenge Iris, all the people on Earth 2 he'd killed. But then he glanced back at Joe, Cisco, Wells, Caitlin, Jesse and Wally, standing a few hundred feet away, watching him. Could he do that? Kill Zoom. The man deserved it. But, Iris had always taught him to be the best person he could be. You didn't need to be the best, so long as you kept your heart aligned with what really matters. What was more important then? Honour? Or Vengeance?

Barry stepped away from Zoom and left him writhing on the ground.

"This isn't the end Flash! One of us dies tonight!" Zoom launched himself at Barry's back, screaming in that guttural reverberating voice.

**_"YOU."_** A crack of blue light split the air, and the Black Racer stabbed its hand through Zoloman's chest.

Barry turned back to them, staring into Jay's face one final time.

"I'm sorry, Iris," he whispered, a tear sliding down his face.

Zoom died, and the Racer removed his vibrating arm from the speedster's chest, letting his corpse fall to the ground. Then it turned on Barry. The Racer looked to the charred ruin of the Magnetar, then back to Barry.

**_"WE WILL ALLOW THIS ONCE. DO NOT TRY IT AGAIN."_**

Barry shivered but nodded his agreement. Calling up a Time Remnant had been a significant risk, but given how much his heart ached right now, he hadn't really cared. His previous self hadn't either.

The Racer bolted away, vanishing back into the sliver of time it came from, and Barry ran back towards his friends.

But as he did so, a bolt of energy from his trail flared out, striking the husk of the Magnetar.

The device detonated with a terrifying _"CRACK!"_, and Barry was blasted off his feet by a massive shockwave.

He soared through the air, as his friends called out his name, before slamming to the ground headfirst.

Barry rolled onto his back, groaning in pain. Then, his gaze fixed on the sky. A storm had begun forming. Spinning in on itself like a cyclone. And Barry was its centre.

The gale of wind lurched him away from the ground, and Barry tried to use his speed to counter the spin. Lightning sparked over his body, only to be warped up into the twister forming around him and get sucked up into the sky. He screamed in utter agony as the storm blasted a wave of golden light through the air.

"Barry!" Cisco yelled, and Barry tried his best to turn towards his friends as he was ripped apart. The wind was howling around him, spinning like a hurricane, and then the lightning came. A bolt flared from the cyclone above – golden in colour – falling from the sky. And as his friends clung tried to forge forward into the storm, regardless of the danger, the lightning bolt struck Jesse and Wally's conjoined hands.

They were but the first. Lightning bolts of gold, yellow, white, purple and red struck all across Central City, illuminating the night sky as the cyclone continued to spin, faster and faster and faster and…

Cisco thrust his hands forward, yelling at the top of his lungs, and a swirling silver Breach shimmered into existence directly in front of him. Then Caitlin, straining against the gale, reached into the vortex. Another breach tore itself into being at Barry's side, and Caitlin's hand emerged. Barry grabbed it, and Caitlin, screaming with effort, pulled him through.

Barry sailed clear beside Cisco and Caitlin, knocking both to the ground. The Breach snapped closed, and Cisco collapsed, unconscious, blood dripping from his nose.

Without Barry to fuel it, the twister fell apart, and the wind vanished as if it had never been. A final bolt of white lightning fell from the sky somewhere in Central City, and the storm died.

* * *

THE PRESENT…

Barry returned to the table about ten minutes later. They didn't say anything more about Iris, and Barry was grateful for that, though he could tell they wanted to ask questions. Instead, as Barry drew on Kara's warmth – sitting closer to her than was strictly necessary – Cisco continued the story. Narrating the events of the Speed Force storm that struck Central City after Zoom was defeated.

"But there was no Flashpoint?" Barry asked. Surely he had still gone back in time to save his mother? Iris's death would have haunted him more than even his father's.

Cisco pursed his lips, taking a swig from his drink.

"That's the thing. I can't find mention of it _anywhere_."

"Really?"

"It's weird. Because Savitar still shows up next year. But I found no reference at all to Flashpoint, Alchemy or almost any of the villains it created, in the STAR Labs database." He paused then. "My problem is, I don't know if the STAR Labs database is actually right."

Now it was Barry's turn to frown.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Flashpoint was a mirage timeline. One that you destroyed. Theoretically, you might still have created it, maybe not at the same time, but you might still have done it, and just not recorded it. I always wondered why your Flashpoint world was so… _normal_. Think about it? If you don't become the Flash, how much bad stuff would have happened? The Legends… the _Legion_, sorry, have explained time-quakes to us, and so did Jay. They send out massive ripples. The world you went to, it should have been vastly different from the one you left."

Barry shivered. He really had fucked up that time.

"Well, if we can't confirm it, let's just ignore it for now. The Speed Force storm, what happened?"

Cisco blinked rapidly a few times, before turning back to his notes.

"This year is the most radically different to the one we remember," he said, "The lightning from the Speed Force storm created almost a dozen speedsters across Central City."

_"A dozen?!"_ Barry exclaimed, jaw-dropping open.

"Yep. I think that might be part of the reason why you didn't create Flashpoint. You were just too damn busy!" Cisco said, and everyone at the table laughed.

"You called us back to Central City," Ray explained, "To help you set up a facility and handle the normal metahumans while you dealt with the Speedsters…"

* * *

THE FLASH: S3EP01 – LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE

**September 2016**

"To understand what we're about to tell you," a woman said, "You need to do something first."

"You need to believe in the _impossible_!" Another voice said, this time, a man with a gravelly tone.

"Can you do that? Good." A young woman's voice, perhaps a teenager.

"You see those blurs?" Wally West spoke these words, and as he did so, five trails of lightning flashed through the streets of Central City.

"That's us!" Jesse Wells exclaimed, and you could hear the glee in her voice as they zoomed past.

"My name is Meena Dhawan," the first woman, wearing a maroon costume and trailing purple lightning, announced.

"My name is August Heart," the man with the grizzled voice said. His suit looked more like a leather jacket, with goggles instead of a cowl. His lightning was white.

"My name is Avery Ho," the young woman added. Her suit was by far the most colourful, a blend of light blue and purple that matched her trail.

"My name is Wallace West," Wally said, pulling ahead of the pack in a sleek yellow suit.

"And my name is Jesse Wells," the woman beside him, Jesse, said elbowing Wally as they jumped over a truck in slow motion. Both their lightning was yellow.

Another figure, appeared, vibrating through the truck, dressed in a red suit, golden piping running from golden boots and gloves across his legs and arms to a lightning bolt emblem on his chest.

The Flash hit the ground and raced forward, easily outpacing the others and grinning the whole time.

"And he's the fastest man alive!" the five yelled in sync, running behind their mentor as they laughed.

Barry rolled his eyes.

"Where the hell did you hear that?"

"Cisco showed us a series of audio recordings from when you first started out. You were really sappy, you know that?" Jesse told him, and Barry shook his head in frustration.

_"Traitor!"_ Cisco's voice echoed over the coms, _"And I was just about to make you a new code-name! Looks like you're sticking with Jesse Quick now."_

Jesse groaned as the others laughed.

"Please! I hate that name so much!"

_"Then you shouldn't have been mean to me!"_

"At least it's better than Kid Flash," August exclaimed, vaulting over a car.

Wally winced. "Never going to live that down, am I?"

"NOPE!"

The six speedsters skidded to a halt by the waterside. Only fifteen-year-old Avery fell flat on her face this time. Progress.

"Snart!" Barry growled, grounding his teeth in annoyance as he looked out past the police perimeter. A cargo-ship travelling down the Mississippi had been completely taken over by the Rogues. How had Barry come to this conclusion? Well, because the Mississippi was frozen. In September!

August stepped up to Joe.

"Do we know what the Rogues are after?" he asked, slipping into detective mode. August was a detective, originally from St Louis. That was before he'd been struck by lightning during the Speed Force Storm.

"Not for certain," Joe said, "But there's a high-profile scientist from Palmer Tech onboard. Max Mercury. A scientist whose specialty is dark matter."

"Great," Avery muttered.

Barry pursed his lips, then turned to Wally and held out his hand.

"Winner gets Cold?"

"Deal."

"Paper, scissors, rock."

Wally rolled paper; Barry rolled rock.

Wally thrust his fist in the air, and Jesse elbowed him again.

"Okay," Barry said, shaking his head in amusement, "Kid Flash's on Cold, Fast Track has Weather Wizard, Avery can take Heat Wave, Quick's on the Piper, August – Golden Glider is yours. Try not to get mind-controlled again. I'll take Mirror Master." They all nodded, then, together, they raced in a flurry of electricity towards the ship frozen in ice.

* * *

THE PRESENT…

"We used STAR Labs as a training and rehabilitation centre. To be honest, I don't remember ever remember feeling like I'd done so much good at once for a long time, even working with the Flash."

Barry sat back in shock.

"Me? A teacher?"

Cisco laughed.

"You weren't exactly doing it on your own," he said. "You had Harry, Caitlin, me, a couple of others."

"A teacher?" Barry repeated, and Kara couldn't help laughing at him.

"Maybe that's a story for another time?" She suggested. Barry just nodded dumbly.

"What's next on the list?" J'onn asked, scanning Cisco's sheet.

"Well, when Barry collided with Caitlin when they came out of the portal, she got hit with a burst of Dark Matter, activating her meta-gene. Batman disappears from Gotham City around the same time as the Speed Force Storm, Mon-El crashes to Earth and Kara and Superman team up to save the Venture and fight Metallo, which is also where she meets Lena Luthor for the first time. Also, President Marsden signs the Alien Amnesty Act."

"Oliver meets Evelyn Sharpe's younger self in Starling City," Dig continued, "and she inspires him to recruit some of the vigilantes that have sprung up following Damien Dhark's defeat to form a new team. His training methods…" Dig trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Suck?" Sara supplied, and Dig snapped his fingers.

"That's it. They seriously _suck_, but eventually, he gets the recruits into fighting shape. Just in time for serial killer Prometheus to appear in Starling."

"What about us?" Sara asked, directing the question to Ray. "Was everything we did just bumped forward a year?"

"Um…" Ray looked down at Cisco's timeline, brow furrowed.

"I think so? This was the year we went hunting those Totems and recruited Zari, oh, and Beebo. Gotta love Beebo." The group laughed, and Sara grabbed her glass, raising it into the air.

"To God Emperor Beebo! May he reign eternally!"

"TO BEEBO!" They all shouted.

They downed their drinks, and Kara hiccupped, eliciting even more laughter as she shook her head as if to clear it.

"Maybe we should call it a night?" Alex suggested, snapping her fingers in front of Kara's face. Kara poked her tongue out and swatted the fingers away.

"No! We keep going! I'm fine. What's next? Ooo! The Dominator Invasion!"

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S2EP08 – MEDUSA

**November 2016**

Kara closed the door to her apartment feeling better today than she had for weeks. J'onn was back to normal, Alex had finally agreed to give Lena the benefit of the doubt, Cadmus had been pulverised, and Jeremiah was alive!

She closed the door, humming to herself, then froze. A figure in a leather bombers jacket and jeans was sitting on her couch holding a beer in his hand and watching her TV.

"Um? Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

He turned in his seat, nodding his head in greeting. He was older than her, perhaps in his late twenties or early thirties, but he had a mischievous grin that made him appear far younger. His short brown hair was spiked up at the front, and the tag above his breast pocket said 'Jordan'.

"Supergirl! So glad to finally meet you!" he said. He waved his hand, and a glowing green hand appeared from thin air. It flew over to the fridge, opened the door and grabbed the bottle of Okaran Rum she kept inside for rainy days. The hand flew over to her, and she hesitantly took the bottle, a look of complete confusion on her face. The hand vanished as if it had never been.

"Hal Jordan. Green Lantern," she realised, trying to blink away her surprise.

"That would be me!" He exclaimed, taking a drink from his bottle. "Sorry to show up unannounced. I went to Superman first – he and I have a history after all – but he was MIA. So, next stop was you."

Kara felt an odd sinking in her stomach.

"What's happened?"

"Oh, nothing much," he said casually, "Just that there's an invasion fleet on its way to Earth. Should arrive in…" He held up his right hand, revealing a shining green ring. A tiny screen appeared above it, displaying a star-chart and a countdown.

"Fifteen hours."

Kara swallowed.

"I think I'm gonna need to make a few calls…"

* * *

THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES: S2EP08 – INVASION! PART 3

**November 2016**

Three days, some mind control, kidnapping, time-travel, and a lot of punching later; Kara led Barry and Oliver into Al's Alien Dive Bar. Her friends looked around, slightly awed by all the different people they could spot, but for once, Oliver didn't instantly tense up. Maybe it was just how supremely tired he was, but she liked to think it was the trust he had in her that did it.

The trio sat down at the bar, and Mon-El stepped up to them, towel over his shoulder.

"Who are these guys?" He asked her quietly. Kara glanced to Barry and Oliver, who were talking in hushed tones. That was an excellent question. Friends? No, it didn't sound impactful enough. They were more than just friends – their shared adventures, shared natures, shared responsibilities, created a sort of bond beyond that of simple friendship. Oliver was a mentor to her in a way, but she wasn't his apprentice either. Ever since they'd visited the 25th Century, they'd been closer than ever, going for drinks every week or so. They both knew they liked one another, but life always seemed to be getting in their way. Zoom, Myriad, Cadmus, training the new speedsters, now an alien invasion.

"They're my partners," she said eventually. "I'll get some Sakarian Ale, a glass of Scadrian White and double proof Vodka." Mon-El raised an eyebrow, but nodded and moved away to get the drinks.

"We should do this more often," Oliver said, looking to the two of them.

"I don't think the world could take it," Barry noted, and Kara laughed.

"No," Oliver said, rolling his eyes, "I mean _without_ the world being threatened."

"If the world wasn't being threatened," Kara said, smirking, "What would we do?"

"Prepare," Oliver said. Mon-El returned with the drinks, hand one out to each of them. "Things like this, they're just going to keep happening. We work well on our own, and we have a good understanding of how to fight together, but we aren't seamless."

"What are you saying, Oliver?" Barry asked, leaning back as his curiosity got the better of him.

"I think we need to start training together. Learn how each other thinks. Our moves, our abilities. And we need to do it regularly, keep up to date with things. Look at last year, for example. Astra, Dhark's nukes, or Zoom's army. We each needed help to put down the threat. What if we'd actually helped one another from the start? Instead of only showing up when the situation was most dire." He took a sip of his drink, then stared into the clear depths of the glass.

"I learned a lot last year. If I had just sucked up my courage and called Constantine earlier, instead of waiting till the last minute, maybe Havenrock would never have happened. Or I could have called either of you. Against all three of us, Dhark wouldn't have stood a chance before he was powered up by all those deaths. But I'm trying to be better now. I'm building a team. A team that can outlive me if I fall. Back-up I can rely on. But they're all human." He looked up, staring at each of them in turn.

"I want to be a better man. A better hero. I have a role to play in all this. One bigger than just saving Starling City. I think I have to start putting together a team. A line of defence that utilises all our talents and abilities. The time for standing alone is over. The Dominators proved one thing. The world needs us."

Barry and Kara sat there in shock for a few moments until finally, Kara picked up her glass and raised it.

"People here on Earth. They think the S is simply a symbol of hope. And it is. The House of El's crest _is _the word Hope in Kryptonese. But my family also had a creed. A motto if you will. El Mayara. Stronger Together. I think you're right, Oliver. If you want to train, we'll train. The next time an alien invasion comes around the corner, we'll be ready for it."

They looked at Barry, who hadn't yet taken a drink from his own glass.

"If there is one thing I've learned from training the Speedsters this year, it's the value of teamwork. Cisco… he's getting better and better with his powers, and he and Harry want to start exploring the Multiverse. Seeing what other threats like these Rogues are out there. But to do that, I need to know that there are people I can trust still here to protect my home." He raised his glass, and Oliver did the same.

"So we train. And if I need help, I promise I'll call instead of hiding it and thinking I have to solve every problem myself."

"Agreed," Oliver said.

"To Earth's Mightiest Heroes," Kara said, as they clinked their glasses, "may we stand together against any foe."

They each drank, Kara watching Barry intently as the alien liquid slid down his throat. His eyes went wide, and he lowered the drink, blinking rapidly.

"Holy crap. That's good stuff," he whispered, cheeks flushing. He blinked once more, then groaned.

"Nope. Gone again. I'm destined to be sober for the rest of my life." Kara and Oliver both laughed, patting their destitute friend on the back.

Two hours later, Kara and Barry bade goodbye to Oliver, who hopped on his motorcycle and began the drive up the highway back to Starling.

"I should get going too," Barry said, giving her that goofy smile she loved so much. _The time for standing alone is over. _Oliver's voice seemed to whisper in her mind. Maybe he was right in more ways than one.

Barry made to leave, but she grabbed his hand before he could. Then, using a bit of her superstrength, she pulled him to her, leaned up, and kissed him.

He froze for a split second, then melted into it, his arms snaking around her waist, pulling her tight against his chest.

They kissed until they ran out of air, but when they finally broke apart, Kara's entire body was so flushed with excitement, adrenaline and _heat_ that she might have started floating without noticing it. She rested her forehead on his, eyes heavy as she took several slow, deep breaths.

"You could always stay at my place tonight?" She whispered, voice low and breathy. Barry's heartbeat jumped, and the next thing she knew, she was engulfed in golden lightning, racing through the city faster than the speed of sound.

Neither of them saw Mon-El exit the bar, his shift over, and see them kiss like their very lives depended on it, then flash away.

* * *

THE PRESENT…

"So, the Dominator Invasion happens the same way?" Sara asked.

"Mostly," Cisco confirmed, "Instead it's Hal that recruits Kara, not us, and she's the one that calls everyone together to the DEO. Most of the fighting happens in National City, and it's the DEO that heads the government response, rather than ARGUS."

"J'onn gets kidnapped by the Dominators," Alex continued, "and they use him to Mind Control all the heroes, myself included, except Barry and Oliver."

"Once that's over, the Dominators abduct Sara, Oliver, Thea, Ray and I and put us into that simulation. The Legion rescues us, and with Hal's help, we manage to kick their buts off the Earth and back into space," Dig finished, taking another drink.

"After that comes the fun part," Cisco said, rubbing his hands together, "Once we finally defeat Earth 12 Captain Cold and his Rogues, we complete the Speed Canon, and start using it to travel the Multiverse. That's when we meet Wally West for the first time."

"I thought you already knew him?" Alex asked, leaning forward.

"Wrong Wally," Cisco said, waving off her question.

* * *

THE FLASH: S3EP09 – ROGUE NIGHTS

**December 2016**

Barry watched with a determined grin, Meena, August and Jesse flanking him, as Cisco stepped back from the Speed-Canon. The shimmering portal floating inside it was more round now, and if he stared right at the centre, the mist seemed to part, revealing a sea of red out beyond.

"That's it," Cisco said, dusting his hands off. "Now we can send Captain Cold and his cronies back where they belong…" he trailed off as a burst of mist burst out from the portal. Then, in a spark of white lightning, a man in a Flash suit of red and silver, with bright ginger hair, jumped clear of the Breach landing on his feet with ease.

"Flash," he exclaimed, nodding to Barry.

Barry, who had long since stopped being surprised by people randomly appearing in STAR Labs, stepped down onto the debarkation area.

"Flash. Welcome to Earth One."

"Um? Does this happen a lot?" August whispered to Jesse.

"Yep. All the time."

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE: MUST READ!**

It has been brought to our attention that Fanfiction . net has stopped emailing people when we reply to their reviews. WE ARE STILL REPLYING! Please don't think we're ignoring you! We reply to every review longer than five words, and usually to shorter ones too. To find our replies, you have to log into your Fanfiction . net account and check under the Private Messaging tab.

Secondly, there will be no new chapter next week, as we have exams to study for and write. It seems the quarantine hasn't extended to exam halls yet down here. Don't worry, we'll be back as soon as we can. In the meantime, feel free to check out our other stories by clicking on our profile name above.

**Harry Potter and the Shards of Heaven**

_By Ghost-and-Miracle42_

_Years ago, two gods crashed on Earth after a brutal war in the heavens. Trapped in eternal slumber by Merlin, these gods' presence on Earth has been shaping the evolution of Wizard kind for generations. What can run-away wizard Harry Potter possibly do against a power that can kill a god?_

It's a third and fourth-year AU fusion story, staring Harry and Ginny, and featuring an indepth magic system and cosmic magic. It's also heavily character driven and deep dives into some dark themes like trauma and depression. If you've read or are a fan of Brandon Sanderson's books, you'll love this story.

**_Harry Potter and the Gemini Curse_**

_By Ghost-and-Miracle42_

_When Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley wake in the aftermath of the Chamber of Secrets with a mysterious tattoo burned into their necks, they are understandably scared for their lives. But when the true nature of the mark is revealed, they are forced on an epic journey to discover just who placed the Gemini Curse upon them, and why._

It's a **380,000-word epic** that is **Complete **and has heaps of fun concepts in it like an Australian/New Zealander Magical School, an in depth analysis of Magic in America done properly, Wakanda (because _Wakanda!),_ exploration of the origins of magic as a power and wizardkind as a species, SPACE MAGIC, and the Multiverse. It also serves as the starting point for the series of interconnected stories we're working on called the 'Enigmaverse'.


	5. Duet

**Authors Notes: We're still alive! There is a great deal of singing to be done in this chapter. You have been warned.**

* * *

THE PRESENT…

"A red-head Wally West?" Barry asked, frowning. He blinked rapidly several times, reaching up to rub his head.

"I… I feel like that isn't as surprising to me as it should be…" He muttered. The others ignored him as Cisco launched into an explanation of Caitlin going full Killer Frost, then leaving STAR to find her parents and learn more about her powers. Barry, Cisco and Harry had left Earth 1 with red-head Wally to team up with a bunch of other incarnations of the Flash – including Jay Garrick – to hunt down a Speedster serial killer called Savitar. Leaving August, Joe's son Wally, Jessie and the team to watch over Central City. The multiverse travelling trio had met someone called Gypsy, several other versions of Harrison Wells, and finally ended up in Gorilla City, where they had to actually team up with Gorilla Grodd. That was a funny story. Meanwhile, in Central City, August and Meena had a fight when a new group calling itself 'Black Hole' emerged, ultimately resulting in Meena's death. August, blaming himself, had then used his powers to very violently arrest the Black Hole members, killing several in the process until Wally and Jesse were able to take him down.

"When Barry came back…" Cisco said, "Well, you were not happy." Barry's expression had turned dark.

"No. I don't imagine I was."

The table went very quiet, until, finally Dig began speaking.

"Well, not much to say on our side. Timeline looks pretty clean. Prometheus starts being a pain in the ass. Um… Evelyn doesn't turn evil. Not sure why she'd do that… Oh and evil Earth-2 Laurel still happens. So yeah."

The group turned towards Alex, who'd been staring into her glass of water.

"Oh!" she said, noticing the attention. "Us. What's… Oh! Mxyzptlk! Love him." Kara let out a long-suffering groan.

"Skip! Please!"

Barry leaned forward, suddenly intrigued.

"Nope. I want to hear this. What's a Mxy… whatever?"

Alex cracked her fingers. "Boy do I have a story for you!"

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S2EP13 – MR. & MRS MXYZPTLK

**January 2017**

"Look Mon-El," Kara said gently as the Daxamite stood in her apartment, a bouquet of roses in his hand, "I… I'm sorry, but I _can't._" Mon-El sighed, looking down at the flowers.

"Did I get the wrong flowers? I went to five different flower shops to make sure I got the right ones…"

"No… no, it's not the roses. I have a boyfriend Mon."

Mon-El scoffed. "Barry Allen? The Flash guy who's been missing for two months now and didn't tell anyone where he was going?"

"He told me where he was going," Kara said firmly, not appreciating his tone. "And that irrelevant. He's a superhero. He has responsibilities. And for him, that means protecting not only Earth but the entire Multiverse. If he has to disappear, I respect that, just like I know that if I had to go into space, he'd respect my choice."

Mon-El waved it off. "Okay. Fine. But don't you deserve someone who can be with you all the time. Who can fight beside you and…" He trailed off, seeing the look on her face. He drooped, throwing the flowers onto the counter.

"I'll just leave." He made his way towards the door, but Kara grabbed his hand.

"Mon… we're… we're just too different. Can't you see that?"

"Maybe we are," he said, looking her in the eye, "But I was willing to try."

"And I appreciate that. I really do. But I think the problem is… Mon, you're in love with Supergirl; with the brave heroine who'll stop at nothing to save people."

"Exactly," he said, throwing his free-hand up into the air, "How could you not fall in love with someone like that?"

"You can't _just_ love Supergirl, Mon. You have to love insecure, vulnerable, resolute Kara Danvers too. That's me. As much as Supergirl is. Every time I've tried to open myself up to you, you've either laughed it off or misunderstood what I was trying to say." She took a deep breath, then released his hand.

"Barry understands that. So yes, I chose him. And now I ask you to respect that." A wave of hurt rolled across his face, then he turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Kara groaned, head-spinning, and turned towards the fridge. Time to break out that Rum…

"Oh, bravo, darling!" A voice exclaimed, and Kara spun towards her living room to find a man with slicked-back black hair leaning against her wall in a striking black suit. "I mean, I've seen rejections before, but that one was particularly exquisite."

"Who the hell are you?!" _Was her apartment becoming STAR fricken Labs?_ She really needed to get new keys made. Maybe get Cisco to install a security system… Maybe get the DEO to install a security system. Yes, that seemed a much better idea. Sorry, Cisco.

The man rushed forward, a mischievous grin on his face that Kara definitely didn't like.

"Now that _he's_ out of the way, it's time to set the mood!" He spun around, snapping his fingers, and a string chorus appeared in a flash of blue smoke, blocking the door. He snapped his fingers again, and Kara's dining table, as well as the countertop, were immediately covered in white table clothes, food piled atop them.

"What?" Kara exclaimed, stepping back and staring around the room in absolute shock.

"Mood set, catering done… What am I missing? Of course!" He snapped his fingers once more, and Kara's casual clothes were transformed into a gorgeous ball-gown of pure white. Her hair had been perfectly curled and blown out, and a layer of make-up settled on her face.

"Holy Rao," she breathed, stepping backwards in the heels that she now wore. The man dropped to one knee in front of her, and Kara pinched herself on the arm to ensure she wasn't dreaming. She wasn't.

"Kara Zor El, my name is Mr Mxyzptlk, and I've been watching you and loving you from afar. And now I finally have the opportunity to show you my eternal love! Will you make me the happiest Imp in the Multiverse, and be my bride?" He held up a gorgeous diamond ring, and Kara's mind blanked. Her mouth fell open, and, to her eternal shame, she spoke her first curse.

"What the fuck is happening!?"

**_"_****_Hold up. A magic imp from the fifth dimension put you into Vera Wang in the middle of your apartment, and asked you to marry him?"_**

**_"_****_It was very flustering!"_**

**_"_****_HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"_**

**_"_****_It's not funny, Barry!"_**

**_"_****_Was he hot?"_**

**_"_****_No!_**

**_"_****_YES!"_**

**_"_****_Did you at least bang him then? Seriously, all-powerful cosmic being? I'd tap that. Always up for new experiences."_**

**_"_****_Oh, Rao I can't believe you just said that."_**

**_"_****_Oh, you better believe it. You're talking to the girl who once seduced the Queen of France while we were on a mission."_**

**_"_****_You seduced the Queen of France?_**

**_"_****_Technically, she seduced me."_**

**_"_****_Now. Here's my favourite part," Alex continued eagerly, "the Parade."_**

**_"_****_Oh, Rao not the… wait the parade?"_**

* * *

One day, three rejections and a team meeting about Imps where Mon-El tried to convince her to kill someone later, and Kara was happy to be responding to something as routine as an Elephant running down main street.

She should have known her life would never be that easy.

She arrived on the scene, to find the street had somehow been vacated of cars. Police barricades had been set up, boxing the poor creature in, and… the elephant had a rider.

Mxy spotted Kara and waved to her.

"Supergirl my love!" he announced, and Kara just groaned.

"Um, you know this guy Supergirl?" Maggie asked from the ground beneath her.

"He's kind of stalking me," she admitted.

"Well, I guess some things never change," Maggie noted dryly as the cops around her laughed.

"Mxyzptlk, please put the Elephant back where you found it," she begged.

"Okay!" he called back, and Kara blinked. That was easy. "Once my epic plan is done! I saw this in a movie!"

"Oh no," Kara whispered. Mxy snapped his fingers, and a giant portal opened up in the middle of the street. Then a parade of men riding horses and camels began marching out to the beat of drums.

**_"_****_Oh, he didn't…"_**

**_"_****_Yes. He really did."_**

**_"_****_Oh, wow."_**

The ground around Kara, Maggie and police officers came to life, soaring up into the air and transforming into a perfect rendition of one of the minarets atop her Uncle Jor's summer home. Her suit vanished, replaced by a Kryptonian shall, and she face planted into the ground.

"Ow."

Maggie helped her up, face bright red with laughter.

"Call Alex," Kara pleaded, and Maggie did so.

_"__Make way, for Prince Mxy!"_

Crowds started pooling out of the nearby buildings, stopping on the sidewalks to stare in awe at the procession, which was only growing larger. Mxy turned his elephant around and took up centre stage, then he led the parade towards her 'tower'. Kara really hoped those backup dancers were just an illusion. The Legion was going to be so pissed if he'd actually stolen them from history.

A parade float materialised from blue smoke ahead of the elephant and the dancers. Another version of Mxy appeared atop it, and he threw his arms out wide and actually began to sing.

_"__Hey! Clear the way in the old Bazaar_

_Hey you!_

_Let us through!_

_It's a bright new star!_

_Oh, Come!_

_Be the first on your block to meet his eye!"_

Kara tried to jump into the sky, intending to go and put a stop to this. Then realised her powers were gone. Great. Just great.

_"__Make way!_

_Here he comes!_

_Ring bells! Bang the drums!_

_Are you gonna love this guy!"_

_"__Prince Mxy! Fabulous he!_

_Mxyzptlk!_

_Genuflect, show some respect_

_Down on one knee!"_

Maggie finally reached Alex and Kara tore her eyes away from Mxy's advancing procession.

"Hi, honey. Yes, I'm with Supergirl. Yes, there is a parade of elephants and camels marching downtown. That's great." She hung up, and Maggie turned back to Kara as Mxy continued to sing.

"She's on her way. Not sure what's she's going to do but…"

"I wish I had a stalker that good," one of the cops, a woman with short-cropped red hair, muttered.

_"__Prince Mxy!_

_Mighty is he!_

_Mxyzptlk!_

_Strong as ten regular men, definitely!_

_He faced the galloping hordes_

_A hundred bad guys with swords_

_Who sent those goons to their lords?_

_Why, Prince Mxy!"_

Now it was Kara's phone that rang. She looked down at it, somehow just _knowing_ who the caller was going to be. Several news crews had arrived down below.

"Hi Miss Grant," Kara said meekly into the phone. Their tower magically grew wheels and began to roll ahead as the procession continued further down the street. More people were still pouring out of the portal.

_"__Kiera. I do hope there's a perfectly good explanation for why someone is impersonating Robin Williams in the middle of my city?"_

Kara grimaced.

"No… I… I really don't have a good explanation at all Miss Grant…" Mxy _popped _into existence beside them.

"Are you enjoying the show, my love?"

"GAH!" Kara jumped backwards, dropping the phone as the police drew their weapons. Mxy vanished them and caught the phone.

"What? Unacceptable! You can't be turning your attention away from my glorious salute to your magnificence." He reached his hand into Kara's phone, the arm vanishing up to the shoulder. He frowned, then grinned.

"Got her!" He removed his hand and snapped his fingers. Cat Grant materialised in the tower beside them, wearing a shawl and skimpy bikini that Kara honestly hadn't thought a fifty-year-old woman could pull off. Then she berated herself. This was Cat Grant. Of course, she could pull that off.

"Now. Pay more attention, darling," Mxy admonished, tapping her cheek before vanishing. Cat blinked several times, focussing on the dancing troop.

_"__Prince Mxy! Handsome is he, that Mxyzptlk_

_That physique! How can I speak_

_Weak at the knee_

_Well, get on out in that square_

_Adjust your veil and prepare_

_To gawk and grovel and stare at Prince Mxy!"_

"Kiera," Cat said blandly, looking Kara up and down, "What on Earth did you do to this poor man."

"I did nothing! He appeared in my apartment and put me in a wedding dress! Now he's trying to convince me to marry him like I'm a Disney princess!" Kara fumed, completely forgetting that Cat wasn't supposed to know who she was.

"I wouldn't be whinging if _I _was a Disney princess," the red-haired cop muttered again.

"Kiera. In my experience, men only do stupid things for one of two reasons. The first is to impress a woman. The second is on a dare. This, screams of rejection." Kara just groaned.

_"__Prince Mxy!_

_Amorous he! Mxyzptlk!_

_Heard your superhero was hot! Where is she?_

_And that, good people, is why he got all cute and dropped by_

_With sixty elephants, llamas galore (For real!?)_

_With his bears and lions, a brass band and more (What?)_

_With his forty fakirs (Oh!) his cooks, his bakers (Oh!)_

_His birds that warble on key (Oh!)_

**_Make way for Prince Mxy!"_**

Kara, fuming, stepped up onto the lip of the tower just in time for Mxy himself to jump up into the air and transform himself into Kryptonian armour, with a Superman-Esque cape and everything.

"Now, will you marry me?" He asked, winking at her.

"NO!" Then she jumped off the tower, praying to Rao that her powers would come back. Thankfully, they did, and she caught herself, before shooting back up into the air.

"Kiera! Flying away from your problems is not the answer!"

* * *

"Seriously?!" Kara raged around the conference table in the DEO. "You _knew_ how to get rid of him, and you didn't tell me?" Mon-El cowered away from her glare just slightly.

"You said you could handle it," he pointed out. Kara continued to glare.

"Okay," J'onn said, trying to diffuse the tension, "We trick Mxyzptlk into saying his name backwards. Any ideas?"

"I might have something," Alex said, a cheerful grin plastered across her face. She was thoroughly enjoying Kara's humiliation this day. It hadn't helped that Cat was blowing up Kara's phone every few minutes. Most likely demanding an interview. She pulled Kara to the side and whispered something in her ear. Kara swallowed thickly, then nodded.

"Well, Kiera, you'll be pleased to know that your dating life is apparently more popular than even that new movie trailer with Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel in it. At least, according to the YouTube views." Kara groaned, then dropped her head to the conference table.

"How the hell did you get in here?" J'onn demanded.

"I'm so sorry," James said, appearing from behind Cat, "but she wouldn't stop until I brought her here."

"This is a top-secret government facility, Mr Olsen. You aren't supposed to know about it either."

"Oh, leave him be Mister Tall, Dark and Martian. No one can resist my withering stare. Isn't that right Kiera?"

"Yes, Miss Grant," Kara mumbled into the desk.

"There we go. Progress. Now, what's your plan for dealing with the giant blimp currently flying around this building."

"The what?" Cat raised an eyebrow, then pointed over her shoulder. Outside the balcony window, a _zeppelin_ flew through the air with an image of Mxy's face on it. It passed by, revealing a giant pink banner hanging behind it, the words _"Supergirl, will you marry me?"_ painted upon it in bright red.

Kara's phone began ringing again. Oliver's called ID appeared. She grabbed the phone and threw it through the wall, eliciting a scream of fright from Winn as it zipped past his head.

"That's it. I'm ending this right now."

**_"_****_Alex, you have to show me those videos."_**

**_"_****_Seriously, Barry?"_**

**_"_****_I want to see them too."_**

**_"_****_Oh, come on, not you too J'onn."_**

**_"_****_What? I'm sure it will be educational should Mxyzptlk ever appear again."_**

**_"_****_Liar."_**

* * *

Kara stepped into the centre of the blimp, which, fittingly, had been turned into a tropical oasis. Behind her came Hank in his Martian form, Mon, Alex, James in his Guardian outfit, and Cat – wearing three-inch heels, a pencil skirt and white blouse, complete with handbag and sun-glasses. Why had she been allowed to come? She'd glared at Hank. Even he hadn't the strength to resist.

Mxy stood beneath a wedding arch by the giant front window, National City spread out before them.

"Ah! Kara, baby-doll. You've come to me. I knew you would. No one can resist me for long."

"Clearly you haven't met Angelina Jolie," Cat remarked dryly.

"Why don't you just take your magic," Mon-El snapped, "and go back to your dimension, and leave Kara al…" Mxy snapped his fingers, and Mon-El transformed into a pumpkin. Alex and James both shrunk into the shapes of mice, and J'onn became a fluorescent green horse. Kara was put back into the Vera Wang. Cat… ironically remained exactly the same.

"Bippity, boppity, _boring," _Mxy said, "Whatever shall I do next? Summon a Highstorm? Raise a volcano in the middle of the city?"

"Turn them back," Kara said, stepping forward. "I'll marry you." Mxy froze mid-snap.

"Really?"

Kara shuddered. "Yes. Put everything back to normal, and I'll marry you." Mxy narrowed his eyes at her.

"How do I know you won't trick me?"

"Please, Keira doesn't have a deceitful bone in her body. It's something I spent _years_ trying to train out of her. If I couldn't do it, you certainly can't," Cat said. Kara closed her eyes and counted to five.

"If you don't turn them back, I'll be forced to get nasty," she warned, and Mxy laughed. "Kara honey, I love that fire in you, but do you honestly think there's anything you can do that I can't counter?"

"You can't stop me from killing myself," she said, "It's in the rules. What do the other Ascended Beings call it? The Multiversity Accords." Mxy flinched, and mouse-Alex began nibbling on her dress.

"How'd you know that?"

"You only showed up after I said Barry was off-universe, which means a Flash is the only person with the knowledge to take you down. So I made some calls, and Vibe was able to help me out. I've ordered the DEO to fire three nuclear warheads at this blimp of yours on my command. If you don't undo all your magic, I'll do it."

"You'd kill your friends!"

"They knew the risk. You might be able to survive a nuke, but I can't. So, release them."

Mxy huffed, but did as asked, though he did vanish everyone back to the DEO. Now it was just Kara and Mxy on the tropical beach in the sky. He stepped up beside her, smirking, and took her arm in his, guiding her towards the archway.

"I knew you'd come around."

"I decided that having your powers on my side is better than being at odds with you," Kara forced, "But if you marry me, you have to use your powers for good."

"Done. You want world peace? World peace it is." They stopped beneath the arch, and Mxy summoned that diamond ring again.

"This is going to be _spectacular!_"

"Wait!" Kara said, raising a hand.

"What?"

"I want my vows to be in Kryptonese. They'll matter more to be that way." Mxy bowed to her.

"Your wish is my command."

"Thank you, just repeat after me." She spoke the words, and he repeated, her stomach rolling at the self-revulsion she felt at bastardising tradition this way. But it was the only plan she had. And at the very end, she changed a single word.

"Kltpzyxm." He realised his mistake the second after he made it and looked at her with such an expression of hurt, she actually felt a tiny stab of guilt.

"Well, bugger."

"I'm sorry, Mxy," she said, "But I had to get you off Earth."

He sighed. "I just wanted someone to love me."

"Love can't be won Mxyzptlk. It has to be earned. One step at a time." He disintegrated into blue dust, as did the blimp and Kara's dress and make-up. She was flying in the air in her Supergirl suit over the city. And about a dozen camera crews were on the ground below. She was _never_ going to live this down.

* * *

THE PRESENT…

"That might actually come close to topping Beebo," Sara admitted, trying to quell her fits of laughter as Ray adopted a look of outrage.

"I said almost."

"Can we _please_ move on?" Kara begged.

"Okay fine." Cisco looked down to the timeline, tapping a point with his finger, "Next up is _my _favourite crossover."

"The Duet."

* * *

**Authors Notes: DUET REDUX**

So. As were quick spamming the Mxyzptlk episode of Supergirl, we saw the scene where Mxy puts himself and Mon El into Hamilton the Musical. Then, because it's us, and we love Hamilton, we decided that we were going to re-write Duet after all. If you don't like Hamilton… maybe skip to the next chapter. If you have a soul, _enjoy_ true believers.

Anything _italicised _in this chapter is sung. If it's underlined, it comes from either Hamilton the Musical or Duet verbatim. If it's both, it means it's both sung and not our wording.

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S2EP17 – DUET

Barry groaned in pain as he struggled to pull his eyes open. His head throbbed something fierce, and a voice was ringing in his ears…

"Barry! Barry!"

Barry lifted his head from the wooden floorboards, running a hand through his hair, and froze in shock. He was in a bar, and not one he recognised. The tables were all simple wood, circular in shape, with varying numbers of equally bland stools beside them. The air was thick with smoke, and the only illumination came from the fireplace set into the wall, and the candle settings on the tables and the bar opposite him, where Kara was rushing towards him. Kara!

She reached him, holding out a hand to pull him upright.

"Thanks," he breathed, then Kara pulled him into a tight hug – one which he returned with equal fervour. They parted, and Barry finally had time to take her in. She wore a colonial-style dress of red and gold, with ruffled skirts and a golden necklace around her neck. Her hair was done up in an intricate twist, a curled strand falling on either side of her head. She was… well, she looked gorgeous.

"What's going on? Are you, you know,_ you?" _She asked, breath coming fast.

"Yeah, and I was going to ask you the same question actually. You look _amazing_ by the way," Barry said, then started looking around, trying to get an idea of what was going on. They were definitely in some type of old-time saloon – at least that's what the aesthetic seemed to scream.

Kara blushed. "Well, um, thank you, and, you don't look half bad yourself," she stuttered. Barry frowned, then looked down at his own clothes. He was wearing a knee-length coat of deep blue with red piping and silver buttons, with a white shirt and trousers beneath.

"My colours look good on you," Kara muttered, staring at him inquisitively and biting her lip. Then she realised just what she'd said, and her face turned bright red at the same time her eyes went wide.

The door to the bar swung open, and two men stepped inside, both wearing coats not dissimilar to Barry's own, though one wore brown and the other man's coat was of a lighter blue.

"Well if it isn't the prodigy of Princeton College: Aaron Burr!" A man shouted from across the room, beckoning with a waved hand. The two men turned sharply to the man that shouted, before walking towards them, signalling greetings of their own.

Barry's jaw dropped open.

"If that's Aaron Burr…"

"Then _that's_…" Kara whispered.

"Alexander Hamilton," another voice finished from behind them, and Kara and Barry both spun around, coming face to face with the very person who'd sent them here in the first place.

"You!" Kara exclaimed.

"Me!" The man said, throwing his hands out.

"Who are you?"

"Who am I? Well, let's just say you can call me the Music Meister and leave it at that."

"What did you do to us!?" Barry said.

Music Meister actually looked affronted as he replied.

"Me? Nothing. I just send people where they need to go. It's my reason for being you might say," he said, straitening his tight gentleman's suit.

Kara groaned. "Oh god you're like Myxy, aren't you?"

Music Meister perked up, "My cousin did say he was coming to visit you, how'd that go?"

"I almost nuked the myself," she replied flatly. He paused, furrowing his brow.

"Yes, well, glad you didn't do _that._"

Barry stepped in front of Kara and tried to grab the man by the collar. However, he just stumbled through him, as if he wasn't even there.

"What the…"

Kara balled her fists, shifting into a fighting stance, and then realised a slight problem.

"What happened to my powers?" She demanded. Barry spun back around and tried to vibrate his hand. Nothing happened. Oh frack.

"They're mine now. See, while you're stuck here, Central City is mine for the taking. Not exactly the setting I would have chosen," he said cheerily, looking around the pub, "I prefer the action movies or the horrors. Much greater chance of you dying in those. But I suppose a wartime musical will do too."

"How do we get out of this?" Barry demanded, trying to look threatening, though without his powers it didn't look like much.

"That's for you to figure out," he said, "Toodles!" He vanished in a puff of smoke as Barry tried to reach for him again, leaving the pair alone in the crowded bar.

Kara closed her eyes and started counting to herself, Barry, on the other hand, fixed his gaze on the table featuring Alexander Hamilton. A wartime musical, featuring Burr and Hamilton? He could only think of one that would fit.

Burr had sat down at the table, an awkward Hamilton standing behind him. One of the men at the table, who could only be the Marquis de Lafayette judging by his hair, gestured to Burr with his mug.

"Come on, Burr! Give us a verse, drop some knowledge."

Kara had followed his gaze, realising the same thing he had.

"That's Lafayette – the French officer who fought in the Revolutionary War, helped win the Battle of Yorktown, then returned home to fight in the French Revolution," she whispered, a bit of awe slipping through her voice. "Then the men next to him must be…"

"Hercules Mulligan – spy for the Sons of Liberty crucial for the intelligence he delivered to the Continental Army ahead of Yorktown; and John Laurens, famous for his outspokenness against slavery," Barry finished, nodded dumbly.

"Barry?" Kara asked hesitantly, "Have we been transported back in time?"

"That or we're actually _in_ Hamilton the Musical," Barry guessed.

"What do we do?" Barry wasn't entirely sure how to answer that, so the pair ended up just standing there, watching the by-play between the five men.

"Good luck with that," Burr said, rolling his eyes,  
"You're takin' a stand.  
You spit, I'mma sit  
We'll see where we land."

"Definitely the musical," Kara said. Then, pursing her lips, she gathered her skirts and started walking towards the table.

Barry rushed up to her, grabbing her hand, "What are you doing?"

"If we are inside Hamilton, then the smartest move it to attach ourselves to Hamilton himself. Maybe if we keep him alive through the war, we can get ourselves out."

"But we don't have our powers!"

"Then it's a good thing Oliver's been training us, isn't it." She pulled free of his grip and moved towards the men, grabbing a serving tray from a passing waitress with ease. Barry couldn't bring himself to move he was so stunned. Of course, Kara had been a waitress in college. Still, even without her strength, she was gutsier than he was. What did one say to one of the _founding fathers?_

"Evening fellas," Kara said, twisting her words into a thicker brogue than Barry had ever heard her use before.

"Ah!" Lafayette exclaimed, taking Kara's hand and placing a kiss on it, "Madame Karalina, I 'ad not though to see you tonight!"

"Had to change shifts on late notice," Kara, or, well, _'Karalina'_ said he supposed.

"I will consider it a gift then!" he raised his mug to her, taking a sip. Barry finally broke through the haze of utter confusion clogging his brain and made his way towards the table himself.

"And Bartholomew Allen, I thought you shipped out down the river?" John Laurens exclaimed, nodding to Barry as he approached. Bartholomew. Of course, his name wouldn't have changed. It already sounded like it belonged in the wrong era. Barry glanced at Kara, then made a calculated gamble. He threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side. Kara went with it after a brief second of resistance, laying her head on his shoulder.

"I asked for a transfer," Barry said. His accent wasn't as good as Kara's, but it was passable at least. "Didn't want to be too far away from my girl."

The men laughed, raising their glasses. "Here here!" The table silenced, then, finally, Laurens spoke up, an odd look on his face.

"Burr, the revolution's imminent. What do you stall for?"

Then, as Burr made to reply, Hamilton – who had so far been silent – stepped forward.

"If you stand for nothing, what'll you fall for?"

Lafayette, Mulligan and Laurens turned their attention to Hamilton, as if noticing him for the first time. Barry glanced to Kara, who sighed dramatically. Then they mirrored the actions of the others.

"Oooh."

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"Who is this kid, what's he gonna do?!"

Hamilton took a long breath, and though it seemed that only Barry and Kara could hear it, music began playing through the room.

_"__I am not throwing away my shot  
I am not throwing away my shot  
Hey yo, I'm just like my country  
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry  
And I'm not throwing away my shot__!_

_"I'mma get a scholarship to King's College  
I probably shouldn't brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish  
The problem is I got a lot of brains, but no polish  
I gotta holler just to be heard  
With every word, I drop knowledge."_

Barry and Kara both had to work hard to keep the smirks off their faces at the sight of Alexander Hamilton rapping to his friends in a bar. 'Friends' being loose terms at this point, seeing as how the four men seemed to be mostly just humouring the man.

_"I'm a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal  
Tryin' to reach my goal, my power of speech: unimpeachable  
Only nineteen, but my mind is older  
These New York City streets getting colder, I shoulder  
Ev'ry burden, ev'ry disadvantage  
I have learned to manage. I don't have a gun to brandish  
I walk these streets famished  
The plan is to fan this spark into a flame  
But damn, it's getting dark, so let me spell out my name  
I am the— A-L, E-X, A-N, D, E-R—we are—meant to be…  
A colony that runs independently  
Meanwhile, Britain keeps shitting on us endlessly  
Essentially, they tax us relentlessly  
Then King George turns around, runs a spending spree  
He ain't never gonna set his descendants free  
So there will be a revolution in this century  
ENTER ME!_"

Mulligan glanced to Kara, rolling his eyes. "He says in parentheses," he muttered slyly, and Kara couldn't suppress the giggle that escaped her.

_"Don't be shocked when your history book mentions me  
I will lay down my life if it sets us free  
Eventually, you'll see my ascendancy."_

_"And I am not throwing away my shot (my shot)  
I am not throwing away my shot (my shot)  
Hey yo, I'm just like my country  
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry  
And I'm not throwing away my shot!"_

Though Burr still looked disinterested, Lafayette, Mulligan and Laurens all began to perk up, singing alongside the charismatic Hamilton. Barry and Kara, unable to continue resisting, both joined in as well.

_"I am not throwing away my shot  
I am not throwing away my shot  
Hey yo, I'm just like my country  
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry  
And I'm not throwing away my shot  
It's time to take a __**shot!"**_

Lafayette kicked back his chair, rising to his feet and placing a foot against the table.

_"__I dream of life without the monarchy.  
The unrest in France will lead to "onarchy."_

_"Onarchy?"_ Laurens asked, raising an eyebrow as he smirked.

_"__How you say? How you s—Oh, anarchy!" Lafayette exclaimed.  
"When I fight I make the other side panicky  
With my…"_  
**_"Shot!"_** the group yelled together. They had started to gather a bit of a crowd around them.

_"__Yo, I'm a tailor's apprentice,"_Mulligan said, voice gaining strength as he sang._  
"__And I got y'all knuckleheads in loco parentis  
I'm joining the rebellion cuz I know it's my chance  
To socially advance, instead of sewin' some pants  
I'm gonna take a…"  
__**"Shot!"**_

Barry glanced at Kara, then shoved her forward slightly. Kara cast a quick confused glance back at him, but he just winked at her. The others looked at her expectantly, and she began to sing, slowly gaining more confidence as she went.

_"__I'm stronger, faster, more powerful than y'all_

_Think you could stop me? Boy, you don't have the gall!_

_So why are we women trapped down on the floor? _

_Oh, we should all be shooting for the farthest shore!_

_We just need to take a…"_

_"__**SHOT!"**_

_"__Eh, but we'll never be truly free,__" _Laurens jumped in,_  
"Until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me  
You and I, do or die, wait till I sally in on a stallion  
With the first black battalion  
Have another…"  
__**"SHOT!"**_

Finally, Burr, who seemed quite unnerved by this point, stood up.

_"__Geniuses, lower your voices  
You keep out of trouble, and you double your choices.  
I'm with you, but the situation is fraught,  
You've got to be carefully taught:  
If you talk, you're gonna get shot!"_

Hamilton just brushed him off.

_"__Burr, check what we got  
Mr. Lafayette hard rock like Lancelot  
I think your pants look hot_

_Kara, you're as sharp as a shot  
__Laurens, I like you a lot.  
Let's hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin' the pot!  
What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot?_

_Poppin' a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not.  
A bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists,  
Give me a position, show me where the ammunition is!_

_Oh, am I talkin' too loud?  
Sometimes I get over-excited, shoot off at the mouth  
I never had a group of friends before  
I promise that I'll make y'all proud."_

"Let's get this guy in front of a crowd!" Laurens exclaimed, throwing an arm around Hamilton's shoulders and slapping him on the back. This time, when they launched into the chorus, the entire bar sang along.

_"__I am not throwing away my shot!  
I am not throwing away my shot!  
Hey yo, I'm just like my country,  
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry,  
And I'm not throwing away my shot!_

_I am not throwing away my shot!  
I am not throwing away my shot!  
Hey yo, I'm just like my country,  
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry,  
And I'm not throwing away my shot!"_

Burr threw his hands up in the air, then turned on his heel and left the bar. Barry didn't really care at that moment. Instead, he grabbed the serving tray from Kara and placed it on the table, then, he took her arms and spun her around. Lafayette laughed raucously, then grabbed one of the other serving women and did the same. Laurens instead stood up on the table and shouted to the crowd.

_"__Rise up!  
When you're living on your knees, you rise up.  
Tell your brother that he's got to rise up.  
Tell your sister that she's got to rise up."_

He threw his hands up into the air, and everyone shouted with him.

_"__When are these colonies gonna rise up!?"  
When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Woah)  
When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Woah)  
When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Woah)  
Rise up!"_

Barry continued to spin Kara around, dress flaring around her and cheeks a rosy red. Honestly, he didn't think he'd ever seen a sight so beautiful. He resolved to learn to dance just so he could see the utter joy on her face again when they went home.

_"__And I am not throwin' away my shot  
I am not throwin' away my shot  
Hey, yo, I'm just like my country  
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry  
And I'm not throwin' away my shot."_

Laurens jumped down from the table and elbowed Mulligan in the side, gesturing to Hamilton.  
_"We gonna rise up; time to take a shot  
(Not thrown' away my shot)  
We gonna rise up; time to take a shot  
(Not throwin' away my shot)"__  
_The two men tackled Hamilton from behind and lifted him onto their shoulders.  
_"We're gonna rise up! Rise up!"_ Hamilton cried.  
_"It's time to take a shot!_" Barry and Kara yelled.  
_"Rise up, rise up,"_ Lafayette and Laurens chorused  
_"It's time to take a shot (rise up, rise up)"_ The audience cheered, and Barry threw Kara up in the air.  
_"(Wo-oah) Time to take a shot (rise up)_.  
_Take a shot, a shot, a shot, (Oh-Oh, oh)"_

Barry caught Kara, and they completed one final spin, splitting apart with giant grins spread across their faces.  
_"A-yo, it's time to take a shot!  
Time to take a shot!  
And I am…  
Not throwing away my…"_  
**_"Not throwing away my SHOT!"_**

Barry, Kara, Lafayette, Laurens, Mulligan and Hamilton pumped their fists in the air, and the crowd surrounding them cheered, applause filling the bar. Barry laughed, then reeled Kara back in and kissed her hard on the lips – both of them still smiling like idiots. Maybe this musical thing wasn't so bad, after all.

* * *

Two hours and several dozen drinks later, Kara and Barry were still sitting at the table with Hamilton and company. The thing was, even without her powers, Kara appeared to be the undisputed champion of holding her liquor. She thought it was maybe the strength of the alcohol, or rather, the _lack_ of strength compared to modern drinks. For Kara, whose body was more used to _alien_ booze than human booze, this stuff was piss weak. Barry seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, though. After all, this was the first time he'd been able to actually drink alcohol, and have it affect him since… well since she'd known him actually. It was kind of funny, watching him sing along with the men.

"I may not live to see our glory," Hamilton declared, slurring his words as he spoke  
"I may not live to see our glory," the others agreed, their syllables equally as slurred.

"But I will gladly join the fight," he said, and once again the others repeated him.

"But I will gladly join the fight." Kara just watched Barry trying to suppress her laughter as he swayed a little too far and bumped Lafayette in the side. The Frenchmen didn't seem to notice.

_"__And when our children tell our story,"_

_"__And when our children tell our story."_

_"__They'll tell the story of tonight,"_ Hamilton finished, finishing his drink.

"Let's have another round tonight," Mulligan said, waving to the waitress – a brunette named Annie, though Kara knew her name she wasn't sure.

"Let's have another round tonight!" Lafayette agreed.

"Let's have another round tonight," Hamilton exclaimed.

Laurens raised his mug in the air. _"Let's raise a glass to freedom. Something they can never take away. No matter what they tell you."_

_"__Raise a glass to the six of us,"_ Lafayette said, _"Tomorrow there'll be more of us!"_

_"__Telling the story of tonight,"_ they all finished together. Annie returned with another tray of drinks, and Kara shook her head at her as she made to refill Barry's cup. Annie smirked, winked at her, then moved away without giving Barry anything. Kara sidled up beside him and whispered in his ear.

"I think we need to make sure Hamilton and the crew survive the war," she said to him.

"Mmhmm," Barry replied hesitantly as the others continued singing their drinking song.

"We don't know how long we're going to be stuck here, so we may as well work to settle in. We seem to have been inserted into this time, or the dream, or whatever this is. That means we should have a home somewhere near here. Can you think of anything?" Barry furrowed his brow, trying to clear his mind of drink induced fog.

"I… I think so. There's a place in… in Harlem, I think. I don't know. I remember it, but I've never been there before. I think I could find it again."

"Hopefully we can find out what your job is when we get there," Kara said.

"Yeah…" He blinked several times, then turned to face her.

"If we have to be trapped in this… whatever this is. I'm glad I'm in here with you."

She smiled softly with him, then leant her head against his.

"Me too, Barry," she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear, "Me too."

_"__Raise a glass to freedom. They'll tell the story of tonight."_

* * *

Time had gone wonky. Barry honestly wasn't sure whether he and Kara were in an alternate universe, a shared hallucination or maybe they'd actually time-travelled. Regardless of the truth, time was not working correctly. And time was supposed to be his thing, so he should know.

He and Kara had managed to find the home of their alternate selves. Fortunately, there had been no doppelgangers trussed up in the closet. What there had been was an old-timey rustic apartment. Of course, their definition of 'apartment' had to shift rather dramatically. Gas, obviously, hadn't been invented yet. So while they had plumbing, running water and waste disposal thank the _speed-force, _cooking was still done over an open flame. As a result, their apartment had an oven and a chimney in the lounge, which they couldn't help but find quite quaint. There was, of course, no laundry, and the only other room in the home aside the bathroom was a bedroom. With a single, double bed. 'Bartholomew' and 'Karalina' did not have much money it seemed. Barry's alternate self was a member of the Continental Navy, the third son of a landowner in Upstate New York who'd come to the city in the hopes of joining the Revolution. Kara, on the other hand, had no rank. Her parents had been pilgrims who'd migrated to America twenty years before. She'd run away from home and come to New York, where she'd gained a job waiting tables and singing. There, she had met Barry, and the rest was apparently history.

Exhausted, the couple had slept fitfully through the night. When they woke up the next morning, _three days _had passed. Similar warps of time would occur frequently. Most of the time it happened when they were asleep, for which Barry was thankful. Usually, they lost weeks at a time, though twice they'd lost entire months. However, sometimes, time would shift while they were awake too. The first time this had happened, Barry had been stepping off the gangway of a navy vessel, only for the boat to vanish, dropping him into the sea. Hamilton and Mulligan had laughed their heads off as they fished him out of New York harbour.

Eventually, though, they settled into a sort of routine, and, with the exception of the society's treatment of women, found they both rather enjoyed the simple life. This, of course, didn't last very long, as they were at war. A _fabulous_ time to not have their powers.

It should also be noted that Hamilton had a death wish, which made keeping the guy alive really _fucking _difficult. New York harbour was seized by the British relatively quickly, so Barry was never actually deployed to sea – resulting in him being reassigned to the army under Washington's command. Barry and Kara were both immensely grateful for Oliver's firearms and basic combat training. It went without saying that when the couple first saw Washington, they couldn't help but fangirl a bit. Neither of them felt the least bit ashamed at the act. Meeting George Washington was kind of a _big deal_.

Kara and Barry were influential in convincing Hamilton to accept a position as aide-de-camp to Washington himself, which thankfully minimised the amount of actual military action the man saw, resulting in more nights with far more sleep. Of course, they still had to deal with keeping their _own_ necks alive, which was more difficult than expected.

Over the next three years – as Washington's Army was forced out of New York City by the British – Barry took two bullets. The first was only a flesh wound, and he'd experienced worse as the Flash. The second had been near-fatal, putting him out of service for several months as he recovered from a gut wound.

Kara faced her own share of action. A few days/weeks after their arrival, she was assaulted returning home from the bar. Thankfully, her training with Oliver allowed her to defeat the drunken man with relative ease. Her second run in earned her a bit of a reputation. Three guys tried to jump her, but after the first time, she had appropriated one of Barry's flintlocks to carry in her purse. She shot one man in the chest, and another in the arm. The third had pissed himself and run off. Barry, Lafayette, Mulligan and Hamilton had found the man and beaten the shit out of him the next day. Kara had tried to be mad. It hadn't lasted very long, and instead, she'd just hugged each of the men in turn. That night, she and Barry had quite the celebration.

Another important fact worth noting: Barry and Kara had developed a healthy appreciation for proto-American Bourbon. They also may have accidentally inspired the name, but that was nothing anyone could prove.

The most drastic time-shift came at the end of 1977. The army was being forced further and further back… and Kara and Barry had been walking home one night when the entire city had simply evaporated.

They found themselves in an enormous ballroom decorated for winter – Barry dressed in a fine suit and Kara wearing an elegant grey gown with a large ruffled skirt. They were surrounded by people, and the air was freezing, but the only thing Barry was able to focus on at that moment was Kara's abdomen. And the rather noticeable _bump_ her dress was making barely any effort to conceal.

* * *

Kara grabbed Barry with one hand and the wall with another, taking several long shaky breaths as something deep inside her _kicked_. She froze, head swimming, as Barry called her name. Her entire body felt heavy, lethargic in a way she'd never experienced before. She glanced down and fixed her gaze on her swelled stomach. How far along was she? Five months maybe? Six? Oh god. She was _pregnant_.

She tore her eyes away from her body and stared at Barry, who had a similar look of shock and confusion on his face. This was so not good.

"How far did we jump?" he asked incredulously, eyes glancing back down at her. Her breasts were more substantial, heavier than they should be, and she supposed her skin must be rosier too. She had a _baby_ growing inside her. She glanced at her hand, where a simple golden ring sat on her finger. Barry followed her gaze, then lifted his own hand. A matching band sat on his hand.

They were married.

Almost against her will, she felt a flutter deep in her chest that had nothing to do with her current condition. She caught Barry's eyes again, and he smirked slightly.

"I guess I should start calling you, Mrs Allen?" he asked. Kara's heart quickened slightly. _Mrs Allen._ It did have a nice ring to it. As if in agreement, baby nudged at her insides again, and her chest constricted.

"She's an 'appy one for sure!" Lafayette's voice echoed from behind, and not a second later, a pair of arms wrapped around Kara and Barry's shoulders, steering them towards the large ballroom beyond the entrance hallway they found themselves in.

"She?" Kara whispered.

"Qui Madame! Une beautiful baby girl with her mother's divine beauty and the courage of both 'er parents combined! I 'ave a gift for guessing such things!" he beamed. Hamilton and Laurens stepped up behind him, laughing their heads off.

"Yeah, right, Laf. Last month you had the tailor's wife convinced her prized mare would foal," Hamilton said, slapping Lafayette on the back.

"And I was right!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, because you let your stallion into her enclosure!"

"My prediction came true! I just… 'elped the odds a bit." Laurens snorted.

"The year," Barry asked, blinking rapidly, "what year is it?"

_A baby girl._ The thought made Kara a bit giddy. What would a baby girl of hers and Barry's look like? Blonde hair and green eyes? Or maybe messy brown hair and eyes a sea blue, with the build of a runner. Would the kid have powers? She guessed not, as they didn't have powers at the moment either.

"1780!" They all declared, "A Winter's Ball."

Barry and Kara shared a look.

Over their past… well, she supposed it had been almost five years in real-time now, though they'd only experienced about three months of it, several time shifts had placed them in the vicinities of songs from Hamilton. They'd woken early one day, then, without knowing why, had travelled to a meeting in the centre of the city to witness Hamilton rally a speech against one Samuel Seabury. Kara had almost walked straight into Angelica, Elisa and Peggy Schuyler in New York at one point, and one particularly lousy shift had dropped Barry in a raid with Hamilton to seize some cannons from downtown. That was where he'd taken his second bullet. It seemed the next part of the act was about to commence. It also happened to be Kara's favourite number from the entire musical.

"And the Schuyler Sisters are the envy of all," they muttered to one another.

"That they are," Hamilton whistled, eyes following two women on the far side of the ballroom.

"You know, if you marry a sister, you're rich son," Laurens pointed out.

"Is it a question of if, or which one?"

"Ooo," the men exclaimed, before moving towards the bar on the far side of the room, leaving Barry and Kara to be swept away by the crowd.

"Are you okay?" Barry whispered into her ear as they made their way out of the crowd and to the edge of the room.

"Yeah," Kara replied, resting a hand on her middle, "It's… it'll take a bit to get used to, but yeah, I'm okay."

"I'm so sorry…"

"For what?" She asked. "It's not your fault… well, I suppose it sort of is your fault, but I'm sure I was just as eager a participant." They both blushed, and Kara's eyes sought out Angelica. She was a tall woman, the daughter of Philip Schuyler, a rather important man in Colonial New York if her memory was correct. And rich. Very rich. He must have put on this ball when the army became encamped here. Wherever 'here' was.

She knew what was supposed to happen now, and sure enough, another woman, shorter and blonde of hair, stepped up to Angelica. Her sister, Eliza. She gestured in the direction of Hamilton, and Angelica elbowed her sister, who blushed beat red. Then the older woman made her way towards him.

"Kara," Barry whispered, gesturing to the other side of the room. The band had stopped playing, the lead singer rapidly fleeing the stage. As the music dissipated, the sounds of voices grew louder, overpowering, and Kara had an idea.

"I've got this," she told him, winking. Then, bunching up her skirts, she made her way to the stage.

Walking up the stairs to the raised platform was a lot harder than it should have been.

She eventually reached the stage and walked over to the lead drummer and told him what she wanted. He looked a bit stunned at her bravado at first but didn't take much effort to convince him to play what she wanted.

She stepped up to the old-school microphone, and, glancing to Hamilton as he caught her eye. She winked at him and gestured behind her back for the band to begin playing.

_"__Helpless,  
Look into your eyes, and the sky's the limit._

_I'm helpless…  
Down for the count, and I'm drownin' in 'em."_

She caught the attention of many in the room, her voice a noticeable change to the one they'd been listening too before. She caught Lafayette laughing by the bar.

_"__I have never been the type to try and grab the spotlight  
We were at a revel with some rebels on a hot night  
Laughin' at my sister as she's dazzling the room  
Then you walked in, and my heart went "Boom!"  
Tryin' to catch your eye from the side of the ballroom  
Everybody's dancin' and the band's top volume,"_

The song was meant for Hamilton, sung by Eliza, but Kara couldn't help but look to Barry as she sang the words. He was standing at the foot of the stage, a massive grin on his face, whole body swaying to the beat. Boom. She continued to sing, whole body tingling with pleasant warmth.

_"__Grind to the rhythm as we wine and dine_

_Grab my sister, and whisper,_

_"__Yo, this one's mine."_

_My sister made her way across the room to you_

_And I got nervous thinking "What's she gonna do?"_

_She grabbed you by the arm, I'm thinkin' "I'm through."_

_Then you look back at me, and suddenly I'm helpless!"_

Helpless. A word to describe her situation rather perfectly as she stared down at Barry… her _husband_, if only for now. She lifted a soft hand and laid it atop her swelled abdomen.

_"__Oh, look at those eyes,_

_Look into your eyes, and the sky's the limit  
Oh! I'm Helpless!  
Down for the count and I'm drownin' in 'em,  
I'm helpless!_

_I'm so into you (Look into your eyes,)  
I am so into you (And the sky's the limit) I'm helpless!  
I know I'm down for the count  
And I'm drownin' in 'em."_

And though she shouldn't have been able to hear what happened next, she could. An echo in her mind perhaps? Or maybe it was just part of the magic of the musical.

"Where are you taking me?" Alexander's voice asked.

"I'm about to change your life," Angelica replied. Kara looked away from Barry and found her gaze drawn across the room, where Angelica was guiding Hamilton towards Eliza.

"Then, by all means, lead the way." The pair approached Eliza, who blushed something fierce.

"Elizabeth Schuyler. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Schuyler?" Hamilton asked, finally realising who Angelica was introducing him to.

"My sister," Angelica replied smugly, winking at her sister.

"Thank you for all your service," Eliza said, curtseying to Hamilton and dutifully ignoring her big sister.

"If it takes fighting a war for us to meet, it will have been worth it." Eliza blushed scarlet, and Angelica nodded, her work done, before sauntering away.

"I'll leave you to it."

_"__One week later, I'm writin' a letter nightly  
Now my life gets better, every letter that you write me."_

Kara sang the line, but as she did so, the ballroom melted away, replaced by a study in an elegant mansion, oil-paintings decorating the walls. Angelica and Eliza were in the room, a letter covered in a sleek script in Angelica's hand.

_"Laughin' at my sister, cuz she wants to form a harem,"_

_"__I'm just sayin', if you really loved me, you would share him,"_

_"__HA!"_

The room blurred once more, and Eliza, Angelica and Hamilton were sitting at a dining table across from a middle-aged man. Philip Schuyler. Eliza's father.

_"__Two weeks later, in the living room stressin',  
My father's stone-faced  
While you're asking for his blessin',"_

They didn't appear to be able to see Kara, but she could see them. Barry was missing, but she couldn't stop singing, despite her trying.

_"I'm dying inside, as you wine and dine  
And I'm tryin' not to cry  
'cause there's nothing  
That your mind can't do._

_My father makes his way across the room to you  
I panic for a second, thinking "we're through,"  
But then he shakes your hand and says, "Be true."  
And you turn back to me, smiling, and I'm  
Helpless!"_

The world shifted _again_, and Kara found herself in an elaborate garden, the manor house in the distance. Hamilton and Eliza were walking between two hedges, and once again it appeared as though they couldn't see her. She waited but didn't feel compelled to sing again. This time, it was Hamilton who spoke.

_"__Eliza, I don't have a dollar to my name  
An acre of land, a troop to command, a dollop of fame  
All I have's my honour, a tolerance for pain  
A couple of college credits and my top-notch brain  
Insane, your family brings out a different side of me  
Peggy confides in me, Angelica tried to take a bite of me  
No stress, my love for you is never in doubt  
We'll get a little place in Harlem, and we'll figure it out  
I've been livin' without a family since I was a child  
My father left, my mother died, I grew up buckwild  
But I'll never forget my mother's face, that was real  
And long as I'm alive, Eliza, swear to God  
You'll never feel so helpless…"_

The world shifted one final time, and Kara found herself standing beside Barry and Lafayette, her stomach even larger. And they were in a church, decorated for a wedding. Several rows ahead of them, in front of the altar, stood Hamilton in an elegant suit, and Eliza in a gorgeous white dress and veil.

_"__My life is gon'be fine cuz Eliza's in it."  
"I look into your eyes, and the sky's the limit,"  
"I'm Helpless!"  
"Down for the count, and I'm drownin' in 'em."_

_"__Helpless…"_

"I now pronounce you, man and wife. You may kiss the bride!" The crowd stood up as Hamilton kissed his new wife. All except Barry and Kara, who both remained seated, heavy breathing.

"What the hell was that?" Barry breathed, raising a hand to his head and rubbing his temple. But Kara was staring around the room, pieces drawing together like a puzzle.

"Barry. I know how to get home!"

* * *

Kara's plan was set back several months by one rather important factor. She gave birth. To a beautiful, healthy baby boy with brown hair and blue eyes. Lafayette had been crestfallen. Kara and Barry had fallen in love instantly.

Naming him had been very difficult. They had to pick a name that worked in the time period, but they also wanted a name that meant something to them. In the end, Kara had decided to name her son Jeremiah. A good name.

He was a loud baby. A very loud baby. Kara got very little sleep those first few months. Fortunately, Kara had struck up a friendship with Eliza, and the other woman was willing to take care of Jeremiah every few nights so Kara could get some sleep.

Barry had been pulled away to war after only two weeks with Jeremiah, where he continued their mission of ensuring Alexander Hamilton – founding father – did not get himself killed before he could do any founding. Without him, she couldn't do the plan anyway, so she poured all her time and effort into Jeremiah.

Eventually, at about six-months, (Kara experienced about four of them) he quietened down a bit, though he still tended to scream at all hours of the night. It was at this point he started showing an intense curiosity about pretty much everything. He began talking – his first word, which Kara loved to repeat to herself as she went to sleep, was 'mama' – and he crawled _everywhere._ Thankfully, it appeared he hadn't inherited any super speed; otherwise, Kara may not have been able to catch him in her current powerless state. Perhaps the oddest thing about raising Jeremiah though was the fact that Kara found she really enjoyed breastfeeding. Before she'd always found the idea a bit… strange. She had never been the most voluptuous of people, and even in their current state they weren't anything to really drool over, so she'd just sort of ignored the idea of breast-feeding. But, bizarrely, she had found a piece in the activity, in the closeness with her child it provided.

Two months and three time-skips later, Barry finally made it home. Alexander had been sent home by Washington himself after an altercation with another general, but Lafayette had managed to secure aid from the French, and now the Continental Army was preparing to march, and Barry had been sent to retrieve Hamilton. In doing so, he finally managed to see his son again, and Kara could finally put her plan into motion.

Kara stepped into a nook of the Schuyler Manor, Jeremiah in her arms, head resting on her shoulder, and Barry behind her in his blue coat. He would need to leave in a few hours, and if this worked, Kara would go with him.

Sitting at the grand piano, which was positioned so it could look out of a window over the grounds, was Eliza Hamilton.

"Eliza!" Kara called, and the woman looked up, smiling.

"Karalina and Bartholomew! And little Jeremiah too! To what do I owe this visit?"

"I was wondering if you might play some music for us. I was working on a new piece, and I could use a sounding board." She dropped Jeremiah down on a plush chair beside the piano, and sat, bright eyes full of attention, at his mom and dad. Kara withdrew a sheet of paper from her purse and handed it to Eliza. The pianist reviewed the notes, humming the tune softly to herself, then reached for a fountain pen.

"It's good. There's just one error in the D section… and that looks great. Give me a sec to run through it, and you can get to using those gorgeous pipes of yours. I'm still in your debt for singing at my wedding." Eliza placed the sheet atop the piano and Barry leaned over to whisper in Kara's ear.

"What exactly are we doing here, Kara?"

"I think I figured out how we can get home, but first I want to test it."

"How?"

"By getting our powers back." Barry blinked, face contorting in confusion.

Kara laughed softly at his face.

"Every time we sing, reality shifts, jumping time of changing events. I think we should be able to use that to manipulate the world according to our design if we follow our own song instead of the ones from the soundtrack like we have so far." Barry digested that for a second, before beaming.

"Let's do it." Jeremiah squeaked from his position on the couch, and Kara turned back to her son. Her _son._ She was still getting used to that. She also had to keep reminding herself that this beautiful little boy of hers would most likely be erased when they went home. It panged her heart something fierce, but instead of crying and wallowing, she had decided to instead enjoy and appreciate every minute she had with him. Who knew, maybe he would be born again in the real world. But she had to go home. They both did. There was too much at stake not to.

She knelt down beside Jeremiah, and he grabbed her fingers, pulling them to his lips. Kara smiled softly at him, and Barry put a hand on her shoulder.

"You're a really great mother Kara," he said, staring at Jeremiah with a glassy look in her eye.

"You think so?" she asked, biting her lip.

"I know so. I can see it right now." She placed her free hand on his, and they stayed there like that for a few minutes before Eliza finally finished her practice.

"I'm ready!" Kara and Barry pulled away, standing on opposite sides of the room from one another.

"So, what do we do?" He asked.

"Just sing whatever comes to mind. Sing about us. About who we _really_ are," she said, a grin sliding onto her face.

They nodded to Eliza, who began to play.

_"__At times like these, when life is getting me down," _Barry began hesitantly,

_"__And the world seems like it's gonna end-ship," _Kara rolled her eyes at him, and he shrugged. Then he perked up and continued.

_"__There's at least one power that we both still have_

_And that's the power of…"_

_"__Friendship?"_ Kara finished, not impressed.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say!" Barry said, clearly pleased with himself.

"It was a pretty easy rhyme," Kara pointed out, but Barry ignored her, as he seemed to be getting into a rhythm now.

_"__I'm your Superfriend, your Superfriend!"_

Kara burst out laughing.

_"__I'll be there in the nick of time_

_If you're ever in a spot."_

Kara rolled her eyes, then spun towards him, flinging her hair over a shoulder and pointing backwards.

_"__And if you're not there in time_

_You can just go back in time_

_And give it another shot!"_

Barry winced, and Eliza looked up in confusion.

"I'm actually not supposed to do that anymore," he said. Kara bit her lip. "Oh, okay."

"Sing?"

Good idea.

_"__I'm your Superfriend_

_Superfriend!"_

Kara spun towards the window and sat primly on a stool there as Jeremiah clapped from his seat. Barry moved towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder and adopting a similar posture.

_"__When you need a compliment,_

_I can rattle off a dozen_

_For instance, I have to say I'm not impressed…_

_By your more famous cousin."_

Kara laughed, breaking her pose. "Thank you! No one ever says that!"

Barry grabbed her hand and pulled her back to her feet, "Oh, he's all like "Oh, I'm Superman, whoopty whoopty woo!" He said, rolling his eyes.

"That's a really good impression."

"Thanks!" Kara grabbed a hat from where it had been left on a side table, tossing it to Kara.

_"__I'm your Superfriend_

_Superfriend!"_

They sang together, tossing the hat between them in a series of elaborate manoeuvres. Both of them were grinning like idiots. Eliza seemed utterly flummoxed but continued anyway.

_"__When it comes to lovers, babe, you're the best!"_

_"__I love you more than the lightning bolt I wear on my chest!"_

Kara grinned, pushing her voice to the limit,

_"__If you're ever sad, I'll bring you flowers!"_ Barry grabbed her by the waist, discarding the hat and dipping her.

_"__And you can list soprano as one of your powers."_

_"__Thanks!"_

_"__If you're ever broke…"_

_"__I've got the cash."_

_"__On my couch…"_

_"__You're welcome to crash."_

She lifted up, spinning back to back with him.

_"__And if you ever need a hand…"_

_"__I'll be there in a Flash!"_

Kara broke apart and punched him in the shoulder. And he moved at _superspeed_ to avoid the hit.

"Barry?!"

He beamed.

"Come on, that was funny."

Barry grabbed both of Kara's hands, then began to spin them around together.

_"__I'm your super friend!_

_I'm your super friend!_

_I'm your super-that-has-a-double-meaning-friend!"_

As they sang the final line in harmony, Barry threw her up into the air. And she caught herself, gravity her prison no more.

"YES!" They yelled, and Kara flipped upside down the give Barry a high five. Lightning crackled across his body, and he zipped to Jeremiah, who had pushed himself up on shaking legs using the armrest and had begun rapidly clapping and cheering, and picked the boy up, spinning him – thankfully in normal speed.

Eliza sat with a completely stunned expression on her face. Then a glass shattered. Hamilton stood in the doorway, staring at Kara, who was still floating upside down. Barry glanced to Kara and winked. He placed Jeremiah back on the seat, then flashed away, returning in a moment with glasses and a bottle of Philip Schuyler's finest bourbon.

Kara dropped back to the floor and accepted a glass. Then she turned to Eliza.

"I don't suppose you know a good tailor, do you?"

* * *

Barry stepped into George Washington's office the eve before their march to Yorktown, and, if history played out the way it was supposed to, the end of the war.

"Ah, Mr Allen. What do you need, son?" Washington said, looking up from the papers on his desk. Kara slipped into the room behind Barry and locked the door. Washington immediately grew concerned.

"Who is this?"

"This is my wife, Kara," Barry said. He had finally gotten so used to Kara being his wife that he no longer had to think about using the phrase, "And you're going to need her help at Yorktown." Washington raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure you're quite accomplished my dear, but war is no place for…" Kara pulled back her blue coat – which Barry had stolen for her at superspeed from a shorter officer than himself, so it actually fit – revealing the costume that Eliza's friend had managed to cobble together. Blue top, gold belt, a blue skirt of a single bolt cloth (no underskirts to get in her way) and white tights beneath. She had a deep red cloak bastardised into a cape, though she didn't wear it now. But she'd been able to iron on a rough version of the S that Kara had drawn for her.

Kara floated up into the air and fired a blast of heat vision at the wall, creating a deep gouge in the wood.

Washington's jaw fell open.

Barry had not been able to get a suit anywhere near as good as the one he usually used. The materials simply didn't exist yet. But he had been able to put together a set of boots – with layers of leather between steel plates to prevent them from melting. They held together well enough, though he went through about a pair a day. He wore a leather suit dyed red, with a yellow lightning bolt sewn into the breast pocket.

"We're time travellers from the future," Kara explained. They'd agreed they should probably leave the alien and metahuman stuff out. "And we're here to help. Let us."

Washington swallowed then glanced to Barry.

"What… what can you do?" Barry flashed through the wall in a blur of yellow, then returned with a sheet of paper. He'd run to one of the British ships anchored in New York harbour and back. He handed the paper to Washington.

"Troop movements straight from the horse's mouth general. Move now, and you'll win the war."

Washington stared at the papers for a few seconds, then he grinned.

"Consider yourselves approved for active duty."

* * *

Barry and Kara sat down across the carpet from their son, beckoning him towards them.

"Come on! You can do it! Come to mama!" Kara cooed, and the little boy began crawling towards Kara. He squealed with glee as he reached her and she lifted him up into the air. She threw him up and down several times, confident that she or Barry could catch Jeremiah at superspeed if necessary.

Eventually, after several repeats of this, the boy doing laps between Kara and Barry, he became so tired he curled up in Kara's lap and fell asleep. Barry scooted up beside her and placed a hand on his son's head.

"What happens to him when we go back?" he asked. Kara shuddered.

"He gets erased I guess," she said softly. They glanced to the grandfather clock ticking away. Three minutes till midnight. Two minutes until the next and final shift.

"I don't want him to be erased," Barry said.

"Neither do I." Tears began sliding down her face, and Barry pulled her to his chest as his own eyes started to water.

"But…" Kara continued through her sniffles, "I'm glad I got to know him. I've made my peace with it, and… well, I'd rather have had this time with him than not have any at all."

Barry kissed Kara on the head, then pressed his head against hers.

"You know… we could always try again when we get home," he suggested. Kara looked up at him, eyes wide.

"Really?" Barry smiled softly at her.

"For you? I'd do anything."

The clock struck midnight.

* * *

_The Battle of Yorktown. 1781._

Barry and Kara were dropped into the middle of a forest, both dressed in typical military garb, rifles over their shoulders. Kara's hair had been tied up and tucked beneath her hat, and it appeared her breasts had been strapped down to hide them beneath the coat. Ahead of them, Lafayette stepped out of the forest and approached the man standing out in front of Barry and Kara's battalion. Alexander Hamilton.

"Holy biscuits," Kara breathed, deliberately making her voice deeper, "I'm pulling a full-blown Mulan!"

"Monsieur 'Amilton!" Lafayette exclaimed, clasping hands with Hamilton.

"Monsieur Lafayette!"

"In command where you belong!"

"How you say, no sweat." The two men parted, and Barry caught sight of a French battalion sneaking out of the woods on the other side of the field.

"This is so cool."

"We're finally on the field. We've had quite a run," Hamilton said with a laugh. Lafayette threw his hands up in the air, grinning.

"Immigrants…"

_"__We get the job done!"_ they said together, high fiving.

Barry and Kara just laughed.

"So, what happens if we win?" Hamilton asked.

"I go back to France," Lafayette answered, "I bring freedom to my people if I'm given the chance."

"We'll be with you when you do," Hamilton assured, and Barry and Kara both winced. Not… exactly.

"Go lead your men," Lafayette admonished.

"I'll see you on the other side!" Hamilton said as they turned away.

"Till we meet again!"

As Hamilton walked past them, seemingly unaware as to who they were, Barry and Kara began to sing, eyes locked on his retreating figure.

_"__I am not throwin' away my shot!_

_I am not throwin' away my shot!_

_Hey yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young,_

_Scrappy and hungry,_

_And I'm not throwin' away my shot!_

_I am not throwin' away my shot!"_

"'Til the world turns upside down…" Hamilton muttered to himself, staring up at the sky.

_"'__Til the world turns upside down…"_ Barry and Kara repeated in harmony. Then, Hamilton turned to his men, and they all gathered around him.

_"__I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory._

_This is where it gets me: on my feet,_

_The enemy ahead of me._

_If this is the end of me, at least I have a friend with me._

_Weapon in my hand, a command, and my men with me._

_Then I remember my Eliza's expecting me..._

_Not only that, my Eliza's expecting._

_We gotta go, gotta get the job done,_

_Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son!_

_Take the bullets out your gun!"_

"What?!" The troops called in shock.

_"__Take the bullets out your gun!"_

"What?!"

_"__We move under cover, and we move as one_

_Through the night, we have one shot to live another day_

_We cannot let a stray gunshot give us away_

_We will fight up close, seize the moment and stay in it_

_It's either that or meet the business end of a bayonet_

_The codeword is 'Rochambeau,' dig me?"_

"Rochambeau," they repeated.

_"__You have your orders now, go, man, go!_

_And so the American experiment begins_

_With my friends all scattered to the winds_

_Laurens is in South Carolina, redefining brav'ry,_

_We'll never be free until we end slavery!"_

_When we finally drive the British away_

_Lafayette is there waiting n Chesapeake Bay!_

_How did we know that this plan would work?_

_We had a spy on the inside. That's right!"_

Though the rest of the battalion couldn't see it, for Barry and Kara, an image bloomed in their heads. An image of a man Barry and Kara now knew very well, as he approached Washington with a series of reports, an enormous smile on his face.

**_"_****_Hercules Mulligan!"_**

_A tailor spyin' on the British government!_

_I take their measurements, information, and then I smuggle it,_

_To my brother's revolutionary covenant_

_I'm runnin' with the Sons of Liberty and I am lovin' it!_

_See, that's what happens when you up against the ruffians_

_We in the shit now, somebody gotta shovel it!_

_Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction_

_When you knock me down, I get the fuck back up again!"_

The world blurred again, and in seconds, Barry and Kara were running with the soldiers as they stormed a fortress of stone, the bay in the distance. Canon fire and sounds of rifles filled the air, and Kara glanced towards Barry. She whipped away the last of her tears, then pulled away her hat and coat, revealing the brilliant suit. The soldiers behind her gasped and stumbled as her hair flew free, then they froze in place as she launched herself at the stone wall and _shattered_ through the opening as if it were paper.

Barry dropped a hand to the ground, then raced forward in a blur of golden lightning, running up the walls and relieving men of their weapons. Some he punched for fun. It just felt so _good_ to run again.

"Unto the breach!" Hamilton cried, and the soldiers raised their weapons in the air.

"FOR AMERICA!"

They rushed forward into the gap as Kara landed in the central courtyard and placed hands on hips.

"Sorry guys, but you're on the wrong side of history," she said, then she swept across the courtyard with her freeze breath as Barry took the walls above her. Anyone they missed, Hamilton's battalion dealt with.

Kara glanced to Barry as the world blurred repeatedly. One second she would be in the sky, taking out artillery positions, the next Barry would be running through entire battalions, scattering men as the French and American troops surrounded the British at Yorktown. They lost count of how many times they shifted, until, finally, reality settled in the middle of an old town, buildings built of stone and brick, the damage from cannon fire evident. Across from them in the bay, a flagship rose the flag of the French and the newly designed American flag, with thirteen stars and thirteen stripes, into the air.

"After a week of fighting, a young man in a red coat stands on a parapet," Hamilton's voice echoed as Barry skidded to a halt, Kara floating proudly in the air above him.

"We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief," Lafayette said, and Barry finally caught sight of Lafayette, Hamilton, Laurens and Mulligan flanking Washington as they walked, accompanied by two bloodied battalions down the main street of Yorktown.

"And just like that, it's over. We tend to our wounded, we count our dead," Mulligan said.

"Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom," Laurens added."

"Not. Yet," Washington said.

The group reached the middle of the square, and from the other end of the street came another battalion, this time leading a row of British men.

_"__We negotiate the terms of surrender_

_I see George Washington smile_

_We escort their men out of Yorktown_

_They stagger home single file_

_Tens of thousands of people flood the streets_

_There are screams and church bells ringing_

_And as our fallen foes retreat_

_I hear the drinking song they're singing…"_

_"The world turned upside down."_ The British sang, and Barry and Kara repeated it, nodding to one another. Now was the time.

_"__The world turned upside down!_

_The world turned upside down._

_The world turned upside down._

_Down!_

_"__Down! Down! Down!"_

_"__Freedom for America, freedom for France!" _Lafayette cried.

_"__Down! Down! Down!"_

_"__Gotta start a new nation. Gotta meet my son!" _Hamilton yelled.

_"__Down! Down! Down!"_

_"__We won!"_

_"__We won!"_

_"__We won!"_

**_"_****_We won!" _**Everyone cried together, and Kara dropped to the ground, pulling Barry into a spin.

**_"_****_THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN!"_**

The world blurred away one final time, and Barry blinked. When he opened his eyes, he was in STAR Labs.

"Barry!" Cisco exclaimed, rushing to his side with Caitlin as Alex Danvers grabbed Kara. Barry glanced to Kara as they both sat up. They locked eyes and smiled softly to one another.

"We're back," Kara said faintly. She didn't sound very excited. Barry wasn't sure he was either.

They were interrupted by the sound of clapping. They all spun towards the door, where the Music Meister stood with a sad smile. And Barry knew in an instant, why the man had done what he did.

"Bravo! Amazing performances from both of you!" He said, trying to hide the sadness behind a cheap grin. Cisco groaned.

"How did you get out of the cell?"

Music Meister rolled his eyes.

"Please? That cell? Holding me? Not gonna happen." Cisco looked downright depressed at that.

He looked to Kara, and she nodded softly to him.

"Thank you," she said, and he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well, I'm just glad I could help. I suppose you could say it's my purpose in life, just like it is yours."

"I'm sorry, what?" Alex said, drawing her alien gun and training it on the Music Meister. Kara reached out and grabbed Alex's hand, lowering it.

"Let him go," she said. Alex blanched.

"What? Kara, he tried to take over the city while you were…" she trailed off, watching as the Meister vanished.

"And he's gone." She sighed, rubbing her forehead and re-holstering her gun.

"I need a Big Belly Burger. Who wants some?" she asked, walking towards the exit.

"Ooo! Me, me!" Cisco exclaimed, and Caitlin laughed.

"I'll have a rap thanks, Alex."

"Okay. I'll call Hank. Tell him you aren't, you know, dead anymore." She walked away, and Caitlin turned back to the couple.

"So, what happened to you guys anyway?"

Barry and Kara shared a look.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you."

* * *

**_Authors Notes: Up next is the Daxamite Invasion and the moment you've all been waiting for: Kara and Barry realise just how big their own personal changes are. Then, the title of the Chapter after that is one word, a name: Ellie. See you soon!_**


	6. Daxomite Invasion

_**Sorry, this is late. There have been some personal problems we've needed to deal with.**_

* * *

ARROW: S5EP23 – LIAN YU

**April 2017**

"Chase is working with Black Siren, my half-sister Emiko, Talia Al Ghul and whatever army she's currently controlling, and he's taken everyone in this city I still care about back to the one place I swore I would never set foot on again!" Oliver shouted at Malcolm Merlyn and Nyssa Al Ghul as they stood in the Bunker, staring at the screen marking the last known location of Adrian's plane. Lian Yu was highlighted in bright red writing.

"My pride has gotten me into more problems the past ten years than I can count! I swore to myself I would never let it put my friends in danger again. Of course, I called back up!"

The elevator doors slid open, and Barry, Kara and Sara stepped into the Bunker in their suits, expressions grim.

"Where is this son of a bitch?" Sara asked, eyes dark.

Malcolm turned on Oliver. "If I wasn't such a confident individual, my ego would be bruised."

**_Three hours and five trips at superspeed later…_**

Kara set Merlyn and Nyssa down on the white sandy beach of Lian Yu. Sara stood with Barry a few metres away, staring out at the wreckage of a tanker in the bay beyond.

"So Year One was Yao Fey and Shado, Year Two was you and Ivo and Deathstroke," Barry was saying, counting with gloved fingers, "After that, you got found by the League of Assassins, Oliver was grabbed by ARGUS."

"Yep. Lots of bad memories."

"Not all bad," Nyssa said, winking towards Sara.

"Point."

"Urgh," Malcolm said, rolling his eyes.

"Year three Oliver spent in Hong Kong being trained by ARGUS…" Barry continued, then trailed off, "What about four and five?"

"Year Four ARGUS sent me undercover with the Bratva," Oliver said, walking across the beach in full Green Arrow regalia. Behind him strode Slade Wilson, dressed in full body armour, the two-toned mask of Deathstroke hanging from his belt. "Year Five was when I left ARGUS and was liberated/kidnapped by Talia Al Ghul, who dumped me back here to rot after I tried to kill her. Which reminds me, Sara, thanks for telling Talia about me."

"What?" Sara asked, stepping down from the rocky outcrop and walking up to them, Barry behind her, not taking her eyes of Deathstroke.

"Talia. She confessed a couple of weeks ago that she went searching for me because you told Ra's what happened to you on the island. Including about me. She tracked me down as a result."

Sara huffed. "Not my fault. Besides, didn't you screw her a couple of times?"

Kara sighed audibly. "Oliver, is there a single woman you've had sex with that didn't later try to kill you?"

"Felicity hasn't tried to kill me," Oliver defended. They all stared at him.

"Yet."

Slade raised an eyebrow, turning towards Kara.

"Who's the skirt, kid?"

Oliver actually laughed at that.

"Someone a lot stronger than you ever were." Slade whistled.

"Impressive." Kara waved at him, smiling.

"Hi. I'm Kara. Oliver says you're not insane anymore, so… good job on that." Sara facepalmed and Malcolm chuckled. Slade frowned.

"Thanks… I think?"

"What's the plan, Oliver?" Barry asked. "I don't have much time. Godspeed's killed almost all the Speedsters created by the Storm. There's only Jesse and Wally and Avery left now. They should be safe on Earth 2, but I don't want to leave Central alone for long."

"I understand that, which is why I'm glad you could make it at all," Oliver said, walking forward to stand in the middle of the group.

"Thanks to Barry and Kara, Chase shouldn't have detected us arriving. Which gives us the advantage for now."

"It won't stay that way for long," Malcolm pointed out.

"The guy's been ten steps ahead of you all year. He will have anticipated you calling for back up."

"Which is why I left Harkness in his cell. I'm not that dumb," Oliver said. Nyssa rolled her eyes.

"Debatable."

"Barry, you need to be careful with your speed. The island is lined with land mines and other traps. Your lightning could trigger them by accident."

"Got it."

"And Kara? I can't be sure he doesn't have Kryptonite." She nodded.

"Don't worry. Thanks to Cisco's upgrades, most low-grade Kryptonite doesn't work on me anymore. You kind of have to stab me these days, which is much harder seeing as how the suit is now knife proof. Slight oversight on Winn's part there."

"Good. Then do a quick recon of the Island." He stepped up to her and pulled a folded map out of his vest pocket. She looked it over, noting his annotations of likely locations and known traps, then braced her legs and shot into the sky. Deathstroke followed her with his eyes and whistled again.

"Very impressive."

Barry snorted. "You don't know the half of it."

"I'll check our old haunts to make sure Chase isn't using them," Sara said, before disappearing into the forest.

"Malcolm, Nyssa, follow Slade, Barry and I at a distance. I have a pretty good guess where Chase has the others." Then, without waiting for the others to object, he turned on his heel and raced up into the jungle. Barry and Slade followed, the older man casting an odd look at Barry's suit as they ran.

Oliver led them through the jungle without a single hesitation. He had long since stopped needing directions on this island. He knew it better than he knew himself. He led them silently through the brush until finally they approached a clearing in the forest. In the distance, the fuselage of a downed airplane sat buried in the overgrown grass. Between them and the plane, four metal cages – containing Felicity, Samantha, Curtis and Thea – had been propped up in the centre of the field. They were unguarded.

Barry, Slade and Oliver crouched down behind a fallen tree trunk.

"This Chase bloke," Slade whispered, "He's using your past against you."

"He's not the first," Oliver grumbled.

"Exactly. Now, if I were a betting man, I'd say the ground there is littered with land mines, and I don't fancy having half my _face_ blown off again."

"Oh," Barry said, "that's what the whole mask thing is about. I always wondered."

"Barry," Oliver hissed. Barry flashed away, going significantly slower than he usually did to minimise his lightning trail. He shot through the trees, rounding the clearing, then phased. He raced up to the first cage, jumped inside, and grabbed Felicity. She broke apart as his hand passed through her. A hologram. The cage electrified, and Barry screamed as he broke back into normal speed, electricity jumping through his body.

"Holy crap!" Curtis exclaimed, jolting backwards in his cage – the one beside Barry's.

"Olly don't it's a trap!" Thea screamed. The electricity died off, leaving Barry unconscious, and two figures dropped from the trees, landing on the grass.

"Come on out Oliver," Talia said, drawing an arrow and sighting at Samantha.

"Come on brother mine," Emiko said, twirling an arrow of her own, "You think we didn't predict the speedster?" Oliver nodded to Slade, and they stood up, hands raised.

"As John so often reminds me," Oliver said, "Don't underestimate family." Arrows flew out of the forest, passing through Talia and Emiko. More holograms.

"Sister!" Nyssa yelled, rushing forward with Malcolm, bows drawn. Talia looked at Oliver and winked at him.

"At least you remembered something I taught you," she said, then the hologram's vanished, and the clearing exploded. Oliver and Slade were blasted backwards to the dirt. Barry appeared beside them with Curtis, Thea and Samantha, the latter of which immediately puked.

"Next time, one of you can be the bait," he said flatly.

"Not only did you let _him_ out of his cage, but you called my Dad?!" Thea snapped, staring at Slade in utter hatred.

"Did you have any better ideas?" He asked her pointedly.

"Yeah. Call Supergirl!" Kara chose that moment to drop out of the sky, landing beside the group.

"X-Ray vision shows about a hundred people in the temple near the centre of the island," she told them, "And I found the plane Chase used to get here." She pulled out the map and marked the plane's location on it. Thea scowled at Oliver.

"Nice job," Oliver told Kara, ignoring Thea's derision. Malcolm and Nyssa ran out of the woods, though Malcolm was limping.

"Malcolm, Thea, take Curtis and Samantha and head for the airstrip," Oliver told them, "Secure it at all costs."

"What about William?!" Samantha begged.

"I'll get him back."

"What about us?" Kara asked, gesturing to her and Barry.

"We're going to end this."

**_Half an hour and several more Superspeed trips later…_**

Oliver chased Adrian down the docks, then launched himself into the air, grabbing the railing and swinging himself aboard as the boat churned out into the bay. He knocked an arrow to his bow and advanced to the back of the boat. Chase stood there, blood trickling down his face, hand around the throat of Oliver's son, body held like a human shield.

"Let him go!" Oliver yelled, sighting on Chace's face.

"Kill me, Oliver!"

"NO! I won't be the monster you think I am, Chase! Not anymore!"

"Either I die, or William does," he snarled.

_"Oliver! The bombs are connected to Chase's heartbeat. If you kill him, the whole Island will explode!" _Sara hissed through the coms.

Oliver's fingers twitched on his bowstring.

"You've figured it out, haven't you?" Chase laughed, "The boy, or your friends."

Oliver, heart-pounding, lowered his bow.

Then shot Chase through the thigh. He screamed in pain, and Oliver dropped the bow, grabbing William and pulling the boy close.

"Hey, are you okay?" He exclaimed, holding William's head in his hands. The boy nodded rapidly.

Prometheus slumped against the railing, glaring at Oliver.

"I still win. I _always_ win. You are a monster, and now you've sealed your fate." Oliver looked up from William, just in time to see Chase hold a gun to his head.

"Wait Chase…"

"Goodbye Oliver."

"Chase!"

He pulled the trigger and blew his head off. Then Oliver and William were forced to watch as Lian Yu was engulfed in flames. The ocean trembled, and the island started to sink. Water surged inwards, pulling the boat towards the island.

Oliver turned William away from the inferno and held him head to chest. The volcano atop the island detonated, exploding outwards and igniting the air. A tsunami pulsed out rearing towards them as Oliver stared on in horror.

A figure shot up from the fire; Kara! And hanging down from each arm was a person. A blur of yellow lightning shot free from the coast, racing towards one of the nearby islands, before repeating. Kara followed the lightning to the island, and in the bay beyond, the wreck of the Amazo sank beneath the waves. Water splashed over the side of Chase's boat, and Oliver gripped William tighter as Kara shot towards them. Oliver raised his hand, and Kara grabbed them, pulling them into the air as the boat sank.

She flew them over to the second island, dropping them to the ground.

"Oliver!" Felicity exclaimed, rushing to Oliver's side and pulling both Oliver and William close to her. Nyssa, Sara and Dig rushed up beside them, Curtis and Rene behind. Thea, Samantha, Merlyn, Slade, Evelyn and Barry were all missing.

"The others. Where…" Barry appeared in a flash of lightning, panting. He dropped Slade and Thea to the ground, then collapsed, choking and spluttering. Thea's body was covered in burns, and Slade immediately began rolling to quell the fire clinging to his Deathstroke suit.

"Barry!" Kara raced over to Barry, pulling off his mask and holding him up, lips faintly purple. She lowered him to ground, placed her lips over his and _sucked_ the smoke out of Barry's lungs. She moved away, exhaling black breath into the air, then repeated several times until Barry finally let out a ragged gasp as he breathed the fresh air. His eyes glazed over, and he collapsed, unconscious. Oliver dropped to Thea's side while Felicity and Dig held William.

"Evelyn!" Renee exclaimed frantically. "She's still on the island!" Sara and Oliver shared a look.

"With Samantha and Merlyn!" Curtis exclaimed. They turned back to the island and watched as Purgatory, Lian Yu, Oliver's hell, sank beneath the ocean.

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S2EP22 – THE JUSTICE LEAGUE (MAY 2017)

_"Previously, across the Arrowverse…_

_Barry Allen, the Flash, and his team of speedsters created by the Speed-Force Storm were betrayed by one of their own: August Heart – the supervillain known as Godspeed. Though he is now in prison in Iron Heights thanks to Killer Frost, he managed to kill all the speedsters created by the storm save Avery Ho, Jessica Wells and Wally West. Following his defeat, Avery has returned home to China, and Wally and Jesse have decided to travel to Earth 2 to get out of Barry's shadow. Harry Wells has gone with them, leaving Team Flash as just Barry, Cisco and Caitlin._

_Meanwhile, after accidentally breaking the timeline following their battle with the Time-Demon Malus, Sara Lance's team of Legionnaires have been grounded, their Legion Rings confiscated. The team has since scattered, with Ray, Nate, Stein and Jax working out of STAR Labs, and Sara reuniting with Team Arrow._

_Finally, Kara Danvers – better known as Supergirl – has spent the past year becoming good friends with Daxamite refuge Mon-El and Lena Luthor, sister of notorious supervillain Lex Luthor. Now, both of them have been abducted by Mon El's mother, Queen Rhea of Daxam, the sister planet to Krypton. Rhea has brought her armada of Daxamite warships, displaced by the planet's devastation during Krypton's destruction, to Earth. She intends to conquer the planet, but Earth's heroes stand firmly in the way."_

_(It should also be noted here that, although we didn't mention it, M'gann M'orzz aka Miss Martian actually hasn't appeared on Supergirl in this timeline yet. Her appearance in this chapter is the first time she appears in this universe)_

* * *

Kara shot towards National City, trailing the fleet of warships as they exited the portal. They were far faster than she was, but… but most of the ships, the mothership included, weren't headed for National City. They were veering east? Why east? She couldn't worry about that now. Two attack ships were flying straight towards National. She had to stop them first, then she could find out where Rhea was headed. She could think of only one place in National City that the scout ships could be heading. The DEO.

She thrust her hands behind her, trying to push as much speed as she could… It wasn't good enough. She couldn't keep up with ships with _sub-light_ engines. So, she did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed the ring adorning her left index finger – the one with the stylised L alongside her own symbol – and twisted the symbol. The ring emitted a series of pulses, a distress call.

The next second, Alex's voice echoed through her ear.

_"Supergirl! Hundreds of ships just appeared on radar! What's going on?!"_

"Alex! Get everyone out of the DEO! Now!"

Kara shot over the National City suburbs, the two ships now frighteningly far ahead of her. They were headed straight for the heart of the city.

_"Evacuate the building!"_ Alex screamed, no doubt realising exactly what Kara herself had. Then, abruptly, the coms cut off, leaving only a buzzing sound.

"Alex!" She pushed herself faster than she'd ever flown before, but it still wasn't enough. The ships circled the DEO building, then blasted it out of the sky.

The devastating '_boom!'_ shocked even Kara's ears, but she pushed herself forward regardless, aiming for the collapsing building. The two ships shot up into the atmosphere, vanishing, and Kara flew towards the DEO building as it collapsed. Two figures jumped free as the floor fell out beneath them, and Kara screamed. Catching them metres from the ground. Winn was squealing like a girl as she placed them on the ground beside the crowd of DEO agents, but Alex only nodded. She'd known Kara would catch her.

"Where's J'onn? Mon-El?" Alex asked, grabbing Kara's arm. She didn't answer. Instead she grabbed her phone from the pocket Cisco had sewn into her suit and pulled it out. Oliver had already called her three times. Nothing from Clark or Barry. That wasn't good.

"The ships, where were they heading?" Kara asked, scanning the sky.

"Towards Metropolis," Alex said, "But two ships peeled off from the rest before we lost signal. They were heading for Central City."

"STAR Labs," Kara breathed. Then, counting to five, she turned back to Alex and Winn.

"Get back to that facility. Rhea had some White Martian weapon she used on him. I… I had to leave him there. Mon El and Lena were taken."

Alex grabbed Kara by the shoulders.

"Go. Head for Metropolis. We'll get J'onn and catch up. Don't think about Central City. Barry can handle himself." She swallowed, nodding. Then she shot into the sky, answering Oliver's call.

* * *

"We got two ships heading straight for us!" Cisco yelled from the Cortex as Frost and Barry finished suiting up. "Can I be Red-Leader?"

"I think Barry kind of gets that by default, doesn't he?" Frost said throwing a scrutinising look at Barry's suit.

"Yes Cisco. You can be Red-Leader," Barry said, ignoring Frost's comment.

"Yes!"

"What's the plan?" Ray asked, rushing down the hallway in his ATOM suit. Jax, Stein and Nate had gone home for the evening already.

"Not die?" Cisco suggested, placing his glasses over his eyes. He opened a breach, then jumped through, the others following him. They emerged onto the roof and rushed to the edge as the two ships descended from the sky.

"I've got this, I've got this, I've got this," Cisco muttered under his breath. The first ship banked hard, firing a missile at the building, and Cisco thrust his hands outwards. An enormous breach tore open in the air as the alien ship moved to fly away, and swallowed it. Barry raced around the roof a couple of times, before launching himself into the sky and catching the missile at superspeed. He used his momentum to spin it around, and released the missile right towards the second ship.

The breach snapped shut, and Cisco fell to his knees. Barry dropped back to the roof right as the missile smashed into the second ships engines. They exploded, and the ship spun in the air, before crashing nose first into the roof.

Frost and Ray chased after the ship, landing beside it. Frost doused the flames, while Ray blasted a hole in the hull. As soon as there was a wide enough entry, Barry shot inside as a blur of yellow. There was only one pilot, in cool alien armour, so Barry grabbed him and ran back outside, throwing him down to the roof. Frost encased the alien's legs in ice, and Ray bent down and ripped off his helmet. He looked… human?

Also terrified. That was something at least.

"Where are you from? Who are you?" Barry demanded.

The alien screamed out in a language none of them understood. Ray nudged Barry, gesturing towards his Legion Ring.

"Oh! Right." Barry twisted the ring, and the man's language translated into English.

"Please don't hurt me! I'm just doing my job!"

"What was your job?" Barry asked.

"We were just supposed to destroy this building!"

"Why?"

"To stop you from helping Supergirl! That's all I know!"

Shit. Kara.

Barry pulled the Legion Ring from his hand and handed it to Cisco.

"Make him talk. Get the others here _asap._"

"Where are you going?" Caitlin asked, the white fading from her hair as her eyes returned to normal.

"After all the other ships we saw. Kara and Clark are going to need all the help they can get."

* * *

Oliver could honestly say that being flown across country in two hours, in the grip of a superpowered blonde alien, was perhaps the weirdest thing he'd ever done. And for him, that was saying something.

Metropolis was a nightmare. The Daxamite ships had formed a blockade around the city, the giant mothership hovering over Centennial Park in the centre of the city. Dozens of other smaller ships shot wove between skyscrapers, often clipping the sides as they turned. These ships were not designed for this he noted. They could use that. Somehow.

But there was some light in the dark. A golden-yellow blur was already racing through the streets, taking out dozens of Daxamite soldiers in seconds and saving civilians

Kara flew past the blockade, Oliver in her right hand and Sara in her left, and landed in what had once been Krypton Park, a park near the CBD, across the street from the Daily Planet.

Daxamite soldiers were marching in formation through the streets, rounding people up. Oliver thought he might just be sick.

"Oh, sweet Rao," Kara breathed, staring up at the sky in horror. "Where's Superman?"

"We can't worry about it now," Sara said, snapping into captain mode.

"Kara, you can fly and destroy those ships with your powers, right?"

Kara swallowed, nodding vaguely.

"Good. Then you're on perimeter sweep. You have to make a hole in that blockade. Ignore the civilians for now."

Kara spun on Sara, a look of utter outrage on her face.

"Don't give me that. We have to focus on getting support inside the city. That means prioritising. You're our heavy hitter. You're the only one who can take out the ships. We can't do it. Leave the people to Barry, he's the fastest. You have to make a path for the military to get into the city."

Kara swallowed, then nodded, clenching her jaw. Then she shot into the sky.

Sara turned her attention towards the Daily Planet building.

"I'm going to get a call through to the President if she'll take my call. I did save her life back in 1993, so she might recognise me," she stated.

"How? You were kicked out, weren't you?" Oliver asked.

Sara gave him a flat look, then she pulled her 'confiscated' Legion Ring out of her pocket. Oliver rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to get a feel for what were up against. Strengths, weaknesses, exploits."

"I'll meet you at the Daily Planet newsroom." Sara dashed towards the building. Oliver unslung his bow, and ran towards the nearest Daxamite patrol. He ran out of the trees, jumping over the destroyed statue of Superman, and shot a series of arrows at the aliens.

His simple broadheads bounced harmlessly off their armour, merely serving to annoy the alien soldiers. His frost arrows, which exploded with liquid nitrogen upon impact, worked brilliantly. The extreme cold reacted with their armour, freezing them in place instantly. But the real winners were his taser arrows. Turns out alien armour was conductive. That seemed like a major design flaw. Lucky he'd grabbed his 'metahuman' quiver over his standard one when Kara had picked him up. With the patrol down, he retrieved his arrows – he had a feeling he'd need to be rather conservative with them – and began moving down the street to the next group, who'd captured several people with cameras. A journalist crew.

Growling, the Green Arrow ran off into the night.

* * *

Barry had raced down the interstate faster than the speed of sound, crossing the 1,000 kilometres between Central City and Metropolis in under half an hour.

He still arrived too late.

Now he was running through Metropolis, an unfamiliar city, blind. All satellite coverage over the city had gone dark, all communications jammed. He'd learned this from Cisco, who'd managed to reach him through a Vibe. Jax and Professor Stein were staying in Central City with Nate to guard their prisoner, protect STAR Labs, and experiment on the Daxamite armour. Hopefully, they'd be able to come up with a weakness. Cisco, Caitlin and Ray had requisitioned one of Ray's private jets and were flying towards Washington DC. From there they planned to drive to Metropolis to do what they could. Barry hadn't had the time to debate with them. He was too busy saving lives.

The Daxamites were rounding people up and had turned the Metropolis Baseball Stadium into a giant containment centre. Barry had tracked a group here. Now he intended to do something about it.

Barry shot down the tree-lined boulevard, punching the living crap out of soldiers as he moved. One thing he'd learned this year was how to use the Speed Force to pack current into his fists. It shielded his knuckles from bruising and acted like a taser when he hit people.

Something he'd learned even more recently, however, was that the Daxamites had never met anyone like him before.

Barry knocked out all the Daxamite warriors in about seven seconds.

Maybe seven and a half (he punched one twice just for fun).

He skidded to a stop in the centre of the arena.

"You're safe now," Barry yelled, "but it won't stay that way for long. Get into the tunnels, quickly!" The former prisoners stared at him, stunned.

"It's the Flash!"

"Go!" Two Daxamite ships, like silver-grey arrowheads, flew over the arena, fixing on Barry. At least it got everyone moving.

Barry gritted his teeth, then shot out of the arena. The ships followed him overhead.

"Let's get super sci-fi then." He raced towards the Chesapeake Bay, running out across the water as the two ships started firing laser blasts at him. He dodged them, then flipped, grabbing a lightning bolt and throwing it at the nearest ship.

It bounced off a translucent barrier around the hull. A shield. Fun.

Barry retraced his steps, throwing bolt after bolt, trying to overload the barrier. Then a green comet fell from the sky, and a giant green energy mallet formed from nothing and smashed the ships together. They promptly dropped out of the sky and fell into the bay.

Grinning, Barry made his way back to the docks. Hal Jordan landed beside him.

"Where have _you _been?"

Hal's jaw fell open.

"Well excuse me for having fifty-seven different inhabited planets in my Sector, and considering I just locked up my fricken _partner_, I think you should cut me a little slack," he said.

"Sorry."

"Damn right. Now, what the _fuck_ is going on here!?"

* * *

Sara burst out of the stairwell and into the bullpen of the Daily Planet Newspaper to find three Daxamite soldiers manhandling a heavyset man whose hair was greying at the temples. Bother. Sara extended her bow staff, then ran at them. She jumped atop a desk and threw herself at the first man. She kicked off his back, swinging her staff into his head. She hit the ground and swept the staff around, taking out the legs of the other two, one squawking as he fell. Two quick strikes and both were unconscious.

"I need a working computer, quickly!" She said as the journalists slowly regained their wits, coming out from their tables. The heavy-set man, whom Sara thought she recognised, blinked twice, then adopted a firm expression.

"Get her what she needs people! Move it! It's the apocalypse out there, this is not time to be dawdling!" A mousey woman approached with a MacBook and Sara took it gratefully. She pulled out a chair and placed the computer at the desk belonging to one Clark Kent and booted the machine up.

"What's going on out there?" the leader asked.

"Alien invasion. Second one this year actually," Sara noted. She pulled off her ring and placed it face down on the computer. Immediately, the security was bypassed, giving her instant access to the Legion database. She opened the emergency contact folder and selected the White House Situation Room.

"Mr White!" a woman called, "It's Green Lantern! I just saw him fly past in a green jet!"

"Where's Superman?!" Another person called.

Sara dialled the number, and the computer began making a ringing sound.

"How did you do that?" Perry White demanded, looking over Sara's shoulder. "We haven't even been able to turn our cameras on. And what do you mean _two?!_"

"25th Century technology and we covered the first one up," Sara told him, not really listening as she stared at the revolving White House symbol on the screen.

"That's the Flash!" someone else called.

The computer screen flashed, before resolving to an image of about fifteen people sitting around a wooden table. At the head of the table sat President Olivia Marsden.

_"Who the hell are you?!"_ The Secretary of the Navy demanded.

"_Sara Lance?!_" President Marsden exclaimed.

"Hi Liv, you're doing well," Sara said, smirking.

_"I'm doing well? You look exactly the same as you did in 1993!"_

"Benefits of time-travel," Sara noted, then turned serious, "I'm calling you from inside Metropolis. It's a nightmare in here."

_"What's happening?! We can't get any sort of confirmation from Metropolis, and all communication from the entire state of Delaware has gone quiet!"_

"We're being invaded by Alien's Mr Secretary," Perry White said, "Again."

"Listen, I'm the Black Canary, and I'm here with the Green Arrow, Flash, Supergirl and Green Lantern. Supergirl should be clearing a passage into the city right now. Get as many pilots into the city as you can. The alien ships have laser cannons and better engines, but their armour doesn't seem to be any more impressive than standard military planes. Tanks should be able to take them down as well. Supergirl also told me to tell you their metabolisms are weak against lead, which means if you can get past the armour, ordinary bullets not only puncture but poison them too."

_"Understood Canary. Do it, Mr Secretary," _Marsden ordered.

The Secretary of the Airforce immediately removed himself from the table, grabbing a landline from the side of the room.

"We need help, Madame President. Reports say Superman disappeared into the mothership when it arrived. He hasn't been seen since," White added

_"We'll do what we can."_

_"The 27th and 94th fighter squadron's are being scrambled now Madame President."_

_"Good. Prepare to call a national crisis gentleman. Alex?"_

President Marsden turned to Alex Daniels, her Chief of Staff.

"_Prepare a National Address and get Cat on the phone."_

_"Yes, Madame President."_

_"Miss Lance,"_ The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs stated, "_Can you stay on the line?"_

"I should be able to," Sara told them, "my Legion Ring should protect our communication band from outside detection."

_"Good. Give me five minutes to get you an emergency security clearance, then I'll outline the Alien Contingency President Obama prepared after Zod's attack…"_

* * *

Kara grabbed one of the Daxamite ships by the nose, then threw it into another ship that was coming up behind her.

Finally, she breathed a sigh of relief. She'd managed to carve a hole in the blockade, and the second she dropped out of the way, she spotted a squadron of fighter jets shooting towards the city.

They rocketed through the gap she'd opened, and Kara chased after them, flying alongside the lead craft. She saluted the pilot, a red-head woman, and she reciprocated the gesture. Then she flew in search of Barry.

She found him fighting alongside Hal Jordan and Oliver in Glenmorgan Square, right in the heart of the city. She dropped to the ground and swept a group of Daxamites with her heat vision while Barry flashed between them. Hal and Oliver were standing guard over a couple of thousand people trying to slip underground via a subway entrance.

The Daxamite soldiers were not very good. If she had to guess, they hadn't been soldiers very long, and had probably been conscripted by Rhea from the refugees who saved Daxam's destruction. They relied too much on their staff weapons, and they were unused to their enhanced-strength. Oliver wasn't having many problems taking them down in hand to hand, despite the yellow sunlight strengthening them.

Between the four of them, they managed to halt the Daxamite advance, and with over thirty goons down, the remaining soldiers retreated, beaming back up to the mothership as it passed overhead. A squadron of air force planes strafed the Daxamite bombers, forcing them onto the defensive, but the human weapons couldn't even scratch the mothership.

Barry skidded to a halt beside her, giving her a quick kiss at superspeed.

"I'll explain later."

He just nodded, and Kara stared down the now empty street towards the Daily Planet building, marked by the golden globe at its peak.

"Supergirl?! Where's Superman!?" A woman exclaimed, pushing past Oliver as he guided the last people down into the Subway. She was a petite thing, slightly shorter than Kara was, with shoulder-length black hair wearing a pencil skirt, thigh-high boots and a black jacket.

"Who are you?"

"Lois Lane. Daily Planet. Where's your cousin?" Lois. Clark's girlfriend. James knew about Clark and Kara's identities. Did Lois?

Barry flashed away. "I don't know Miss Lane."

Her face fell.

"Supergirl," Oliver said, moving to her side. "I thought I said to get underground Miss Lane."

"And I said to _you_, only when hell freezes over." Hal landed beside them, rolling his eyes.

"This is _your_ fault," Hal said pointedly behind his green mask, "That means you get to write the incident report and send it to the Guardians. This time I'm completely blame-free."

"We need to rendezvous with Sara," Oliver said, "she went to the Daily Planet building to contact the outside."

"Okay."

Hal turned down his light, and they began running towards the Daily Planet building. Overhead, Rhea's smug face appeared as a hologram, declaring the city to be hers. Kara tunned her out. She couldn't think about Mon and Lena right now.

Barry caught up to them as they reached the building and moved towards the elevators.

"All the people are taking shelter underground or in buildings. The Daxamites are spread pretty thin – I took out five or so patrols. Most of them seem to be concentrated around Metropolis University. I counted a couple hundred-thousand people holed up inside. The National Guard is moving up the interstate, and more planes are pouring past the blockade from Andrews Airforce Base by the second. They're keeping the Daxamite ships busy. They have better armour, but they can't bank worth a damn, and our guys are flying rings around them."

They exited the elevators, arriving in the Daily Planet bullpen. The room was full to the brim with movement, though no lights had been turned on. People rushing between work stations, writing memos and documenting things they'd seen. And on the five televisions hanging from the roof, were the heads of the five UN Security Council countries. Standing before them all was Sara Lance, tablet in hand, barking orders to interns and tenure reporters alike.

President Marsden, who was in the Situation Room, immediately looked up as the heroes walked in.

"Supergirl. Good timing."

"The Green Arrow," Mr Putin stated, a translated voice coming through the television screen. "I have been learning some very interesting things about you in the past half an hour, Bratva Captain."

Oliver flinched.

"Ex-Bratva captain."

"This is not the time," President Xi's interpreter translated from Mandarin, "According to this ARGUS report I'm reading, the 'Green Arrow' has stopped two global wars by this point."

"Damn it Lyla," Oliver growled under his breath.

"I'm far more interesting in learning about this supposed superhuman black-ops organisation. ARGUS," Theresa May stated firmly.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with Xi, but this isn't the time," President Macron pointed out, "We all saw the alien woman's message."

"Her name is Rhea," Kara said, stepping up to Sara. "She's the former queen of the planet Daxam. After her planet was devastated by the destruction of Krypton, she murdered her husband the king and came here."

"Vengeance?" Putin asked.

"Probably," Kara admitted, "though its more that her son, Mon El, crashed here in an escape pod last year, and she tracked him."

"Is there any way to destroy these invaders?"

"Conventional weaponry seems to be working well for now," Oliver said, "bullets and arrows work against them." He then repeated Barry's previous assessment of the Airforce's efforts.

"Could a nuke destroy the mothership?" President Marsden asked.

"I very much doubt it," Sara said, "the Waverider could withstand a nuclear blast."

"No. Odds are, a nuclear attack wouldn't do anything," Hal agreed, "I analysed the Daxamite technology, and while it's relatively primitive by galactic standards, the shield surrounding the mothership is Apokoliptian in design. You'd need a Boom Tube to get past that. And good luck getting one of those.

"A Boom Tube?" Lois asked, perking up from behind them. Everyone turned towards her.

"Superman… He fought this guy called Darkseid a few years ago. He had Boom Tubes. Superman took me to his Fortress of Solitude earlier this year… for a piece. He has a Phantom Projector there. Would that work?"

Kara snapped her fingers, though everyone else looked confused. She turned to Hal, who was already stroking his chin.

"The Phantom Projector can open gateways into other dimensions. It's the same basic principle as a Boom Tube. Would that work?"

"It might, but I wouldn't know how to reprogram it."

"Ray and Cisco could," Barry said eagerly. "Alternate dimensions is kind of our thing. If anyone can do it, Cisco can."

"Good," Sara said, typing rapidly on her tablet, "Kara go find Cisco and Ray, take them up to the Fortress and see if you can get that thing working. If you do, disable the shields, get your people off that ship and find Superman then get yourself clear."

"Flash," President Marsden asked, "how fast can you get to New York City?"

"Fast, why?"

"Because Cat Grant was due to address the United Nations General Assembly in two days. We just moved up her schedule, and she's about to give a joint response to our new supposed overlord from the floor of the UN. She could use some superpowered protection."

Barry grinned.

"Right away Madame President, and uhm, other leader peoples."

"Take me with you," Lois said, grabbing Barry's shoulder. "I can do more there than I can here." Oh yeah. She definitely knew who Clark was. Barry nodded, lifted Lois into his arms and vanishing in a burst of lightning.

"Mr Queen, Miss Lance. You have another mission."

* * *

Barry skidded to a halt in the centre of the Assembly Chamber of the United Nations. He'd dropped Lois off in the woman's restroom so she could change out of her clothes, which had predictably caught on fire. Several Ambassadors had already taken their seats, and dozens of other guards and assistants were rushing about the space, preparing for the impromptu address. He was noticed, but everyone was so busy they didn't have time to pay him more than a passing glance of recognition. He went searching for Miss Grant and found her in a preparation room behind the main hall. She didn't even look up from her notes as he appeared.

"Ah, Mr Allen. I had wondered if Olivia would send someone to protect me from the Predators, or whatever this latest batch of aliens are called. Honestly, they all seem to blur together at this point."

Barry froze. She knew his name.

"Oh, relax Mr Allen. Do you honestly think I would expose you to the world?" No. He didn't really. Still, he was generally pretty good with his identity. Far better than Oliver was at least.

"Even if you weren't dating my former protegee, I'm not in the business of putting peoples loved ones in harm's way. Rest assured your secret is safe with me."

The door opened again, and Lois walked in, wearing a UN sweatshirt.

"Hi Cat." This time Miss Grant did look up.

"Ah. Lois. How good to see you."

Lois rolled her eyes. "I'm sure." She walked over to Cat and sat down on the bench beside her. Cat stared at Lois as if she was some predator come to take a bite out of her, then sighed and handed over the notes.

"I didn't have a lot of time, but I put together what Olivia and the others asked. It isn't as flowery as I'd like…"

"No, it's good. Really good. Well done Cat. You just need to tighten up here, maybe omit…"

"I wasn't sure about that myself. It seems a bit cliché, but I think we probably need a bit of normalcy given the climate…"

They continued like that, using Miss Grant's red pen to make annotations. The speech appeared to have been hastily written on a notebook similar to the type Barry had used for notes at University. Cat must have borrowed it from an assistant.

Several minutes later, an aid poked her head in and signalled.

"The Assembly is ready for you Miss Grant."

Cat swallowed, and Lois patted her on the back. Then, the three stepped out of the room, and Cat walked up to the lectern that had been prepared for her. Gone was the nervous Cat. The woman standing before the camera right now was the Queen of all Media.

"Good evening Planet Earth, it's Cat Grant. Yes, I've been away for a while, but I'm back. And what a time to do it.

Metropolis is currently under siege by an alien terrorist group called the Daxamites. Admittedly it's not the first time Metropolis has dealt with something like this, and I can imagine that many of you sitting out there watching the news for any scrap of information you can get, are feeling afraid and like your world is spinning out of control. But, believe me, you have _power_ and right now you have a job to do.

I don't know if the people in Metropolis can hear us, but that we can help them all the same. The military might of the world has been turned towards this conflict. I have been asked to address the world tonight not as an American, but as a Media conglomerate who is considered trustworthy by both sides of politics, and by countries across the world. I have just come from a meeting with the Presidents of the United States, France, the Russian Federation, the Peoples Republic of China and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. All are dedicated to fighting back this threat before it expands, and I have been given a message from them to speak for the people of Earth from this place, the symbol of cooperation and unity.

Resist. Resist these invaders with everything you've got. They come with empty promises and closed fists. They promise to make our world great again and yet they know nothing about the people that make this world great. They think they can con us, and if that doesn't work, what, they're going to beat us into submission? They have no idea what they're up against. Aliens and humans, we need to band together and we need to stand up and fight back. The Justice League, a team of the world's greatest superheroes, are on the ground in Metropolis as we speak. But tonight, everyone needs to be a superhero. Everyone needs to get up and say: Not in my house. Let's prove to these thugs that we're strong and we're united and we're not going to be conquered.

Finally, I would like to speak directly to the person who's decided she's our new empress. Let me just give you a little bit of friendly advice, Rhea. If you and your minions happen to be listening, you've come to the wrong town. Oh, and that tiara that you have on the top of your head? It's overkill. Real royals, they don't need to try that hard. Yeah, I'm Cat Grant, this is planet Earth, and we're not going anywhere."

* * *

Oliver, Sara and Alex Danvers snuck into an alley opposite the Daxamite perimeter of Metropolis University.

"Why the hell did they build an anti-alien space gun in a University?" Oliver hissed.

"Because it was cheaper," Alex replied, as if that were obvious.

"I'm just glad we _have_ an anti-alien space gun," Sara noted.

Kara had picked up Alex, Cisco and Ray as they approached Metropolis. She'd dropped Alex, Caitlin, Winn and James inside the city with directions to rendezvous with the others at the Daily Planet, before taking Cisco and Ray to the Fortress of Solitude. They'd arrived just as Oliver and Sara were planning to leave. Now Caitlin and Winn were running the makeshift command centre with Perry White, while watching over a comatose J'onn J'onzz. James – in his Guardian persona, which Oliver did not find amusing – was protecting them while Hal prepared a big ass distraction. Which should be starting….

An explosion of fireworks lit up the sky, revealing Hal hovering above the Daxamite forces, including two ships that had landed atop buildings.

"Daxamites! By the authority of the Green Lantern Corps, you are hereby ordered to leave this planet immediately." They started shooting at him instantly.

"It was worth a try," he grumbled, before creating two giant construct frying pans and smashing them into people.

Alex followed the Green Arrow and Black Canary over the fence, wondering why she didn't get a cool code-name. She was just as badass as these people. She deserved a codename. Maybe she should ask that Cisco guy to make one for her…

They moved forward, crossing across an illuminated courtyard by moving with the shadows the ships and the moving trees cast across the stones. She had to admit, the two vigilantes were very good at it. Better than she was.

They cleared the courtyard and made their way into a tall rectangular building with white panel walls. Apparently, it was called 'the Fridge' by the students, though it was actually the physics and astronomy department headquarters. She preferred the Fridge if she was honest.

They climbed several flights of stairs, avoiding the light coming from beneath numerous doors as people hid behind them, eventually reaching an unmarked door two levels below the roof.

Sara punched in the code the President had told her, and the simple wooden door retracted into the wall, revealing another door, this time solid steel. Another code opened this door, and Alex, Oliver and Sara stepped into a small observatory type room, shaped like a hemisphere. Only, where the telescope should be, was a giant canon, and fuel cells lined the walls in giant cylindrical canisters.

Alex rushed to the weapons control console and began the initiation protocols, while Oliver tapped his Legion Ring.

"Arrow to Supergirl. We're in position. What's your status?"

_"Ray and Cisco have Mon-El and Lena, Rhea was trying to make them marry each other. Yuk."_

"Kara, focus."

"_The shields are down, but I don't know for how long. I'm still searching for ahhh!"_

"Kara!" Sara and Alex both exclaimed, but Oliver's ring was silent.

"Damn it!"

Sara swallowed.

"Prepare to fire."

"What?!" Alex demanded.

"DO IT!"

"No. I won't fire while Kara is still up there."

"What would Kara want you to do Alex?" Oliver said quietly. Alex froze. There was no question. Kara would want her to fire.

With a shaky hand, she pressed the firing button.

The observatory roof retracted and the canon up into the night. A low whinnying sound echoed through the room as it powered on, the machine slowly glowing with a gold colour as the fuel tanks began to rumble.

A Daxamite ship banked hard, flying straight for them. Two fighter jets peeled away from their formation, chasing the ship, and firing missiles. They would be too late.

"Crap!"

A girl with green skin, wearing black and red armour of a similar style to J'onn's materialised beside Oliver, who cried out, instantly targeting her with an arrow.

The Martian ignored him. She jumped into the sky as the Daxamite ship dodged the missiles and targeted the canon. She screamed, flying straight for the cockpit. She phased through the window, and the ship jerked off course, two energy bolts flying harmlessly into the sky. The two fighter jets took second shots, and this time hit their target. The ship exploded, and Alex just caught sight of a figure flying free of the debris. A Green Martian. Here? J'onn wasn't alone.

The positron cannon fired.

A bolt of golden energy shot into the sky at a terrible speed, heading straight for the Mothership. The bolt ripped through the ship, and the engines exploded with a _"BOOM!"_ that shook the very air.

"We did it!" Sara exclaimed.

Then the mothership started keening towards the city as it fell out of the sky.

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S2EP23 – NEVERTHELESS, SHE PERSISTED (MAY 2017)

_"Arrow to Supergirl. We're in position. What's your status?"_

"Ray and Cisco have Mon-El and Lena, Rhea was trying to make them marry each other. Yuk," Kara replied as she walked through the corridor leading to the bridge of the Daxamite ship.

"Surrender now Rhea. Leave Earth. You've lost," Kara announced, punching one of Rhea's guards through the nearby window. She stalked into the middle of the bridge of the Daxamite ship. Rhea was sitting on her throne in a gown, tiara glittering on her head.

"Oh, Supergirl? You really think I've lost?" Rhea stood up from her throne and grinned. Kara froze, now not so sure of herself.

_"Kara, focus."_

"Your prisoners are gone, and we're about to blow up your ship," Kara said, "So I'd say yes. You have." She lifted her Legion Ring, then winked at the false queen.

"The shields are down, but I don't know for how long. I'm still searching for…" A fist slammed into her side, sending her flying across the room as she screamed. She blinked away the haze that tried to creep up on her, and her jaw fell open.

"Superman?" It was Clark in his Superman suit, but his eyes… his eyes had turned silver.

"This is my planet," Clark said. His voice was normal, full of passion. "These are my people Zod, and I will not let you harm them!" he picked her up and threw her across the room again.

"What did you do to him?" Kara demanded of Rhea, coughing as her chest burned.

I once told you that my planet was riddled with the corpse of yours. But not only Green Kryptonite rained down from the skies. There are so many more ways to harm your kind than to simply weaken you. Silver Kryptonite. Your cousin is so much like you. Reckless, stupid. Barrelling headfirst into danger. I couldn't have set a better trap if I tried," Rhea said, eyes gleaming.

"Kal it's me, Kara!" She exclaimed, ducking under his arm as he swung. She rolled across the room, coming to a stop near the broken window.

"You're his mortal enemy, Supergirl. The person he fears most. He won't trust anything you…"

The entire ship shook as something slammed into them. Kara and Clark were thrown out the broken window, and as Clark grabbed Kara by the throat, she caught sight of the positron canon cut through the Daxamite ship like a knife through butter. Then he was slamming her into the cement.

"This time you die Zod!" Clark yelled, eyes burning. Kara tried to suck in a breath, but his grip was too strong.

"Please," she wheezed.

He fired his heat-vision, and Kara met it with her own. They stood there, him leaning over her, beams of heat inches from her face, and she thought for one horrible moment, of Clark's face when he came to. What would he do if he realised he'd killed his own cousin?

Barry slammed into Clark, knocking him aside. Kara took a deep breath, heat vision fading as she heaved. She forced herself up to her knees, and her jaw fell open. Barry was moving around Clark at superspeed, trying desperately to stay one step ahead of him. It wasn't easy. Clark was moving almost as fast as Barry was, but the Flash had the benefit of his Speedforce aura. When Kara or Clark used their superspeed, they were still affecting the world around them the same way they normally would. They still faced wind resistance and gravity. Barry didn't have such restrictions, allowing his reflexes to stay just one step ahead of Superman's. And a good thing to, because one hit from Clark in his frenzied state, and Barry could very well die.

Kara screamed, then threw herself to her feet, shooting towards Clark. She grabbed his cape and slung him over her shoulder and into the sky.

She couldn't spare a moment to check on Barry. She chased Clark into the sky, punching him in the chest, wincing in her mind. He shot backwards crashing into a building. She followed, punching him through the floor. They fell two levels before Clark grabbed her arm and hurled her into an elevator door, then blasted her with heat vision. She smashed through the door, falling down the elevator shaft. She righted herself, flying back up as Clark jumped into the shaft to follow her. She punched him and he went flying through the roof.

Kara soared after him, catching up just in time for Barry to run up the side of the building, punching Clark with an electricity-powered punch. He flew off the building, groaning in pain, and Kara and Barry chased after him. In the sky above them, Hal had created a giant construct swimming pool to contain the mothership as it fell, catching the debris. He was trying to drag the wreckage out over the bay, but the heat and size of the construct were causing it to melt in places, dropping pieces of metal to the city below.

Kara chased Clark into Centennial Park. He crashed into a fountain, demolishing it, then slammed headfirst into the pavement. Kara jumped on him, wrapping an arm around his throat and hooking a leg around his waist.

"Clark please listen to me!" she screamed.

"NO! I won't let you tear this planet apart. Not again!"

Clark slammed his head into hers, and they both screamed at the pain. She collapsed backwards, then Barry was there. He threw a lightning bolt at Clark, then charged forward to follow through. Only, the lightning didn't affect Clark, so when Barry swung forward with his fist, Superman caught it, then punched Barry in the ribs.

"Flash!" Kara cried as Barry flew backwards, slamming into a tree. He fell to the ground and didn't move. Kara lanced forward, fist colliding with Clark's jaw, and he flipped backwards under the force of it.

"Clark!"

Both Clark and Kara snapped towards the voice. Lois stood at the edge of the park, Cat and James a few paces behind her.

"Lois?" Clark whispered, blinking.

A green-tipped arrow shot out of the darkness, impaling Clark in the left shoulder. He cried out in pain, falling to his knees as another arrow slammed into his leg. Kara jumped on Clark's back, and grabbed his head, thanking Cisco for the Kryptonite blockers in her suit. Then she smashed his head into the ground, and, finally, he didn't rise.

Kara stumbled backwards, collapsing to her knees, breath coming in soft wheezes. She wanted to sag to the ground. Wanted desperately to fall to sleep. Every part of her body ached. Her head was throbbing, and several of her ribs were assuredly bruised.

She did none of that. Instead, as Oliver and Lois raced forward and yanked the Kryptonite arrows she had given him out of Clark's chest, she flew to Barry's side as Sara reached him. He was breathing, barely, but he was alive. His face was covered in blood, and his chest was a purple mess, his suit crushed. But he was alive. A breach pulsed into existence beside them, and Cisco and Caitlin rushed out, kneeling at their friends' side.

Kara let out another shaky breath and allowed herself to fall. Cat and James caught her, then everything went dark.

* * *

Alex knocked on a dorm room door in Metropolis University. The second it opened, revealing a young woman with dark skin and short black hair, she slammed it in her face.

"Please, I just need to talk to you," Alex begged, "My friend is dying, and you're the only person who can save him."

The hallway was silent.

"Why me?" a voice asked from beyond the door.

"Because he's the last son of Mars. At least, he thinks he is, but we both know that isn't true." The door cracked open slightly, revealing a single eye.

"There's another Green Martian? Here?" she asked softly.

"His name is J'onn J'onzz, and he's been trapped in a mental prison by a White Martian weapon. We don't know how to save him, but you might." The girl disappeared behind the door. Then, a few seconds later, it opened all the way revealing a messy apartment and a girl maybe twenty years old inside, pulling on a jacket and grabbing a purse.

"Let's go." She exited the room, and Alex led her away.

"You read my mind didn't you," Alex realised.

"Yep," she said, without even a hint of a blush or acknowledgement of the rudeness of the action.

"I'm Megan… M'gann."

"Alex Danvers."

* * *

Kara awoke slowly, and her head was still killing her.

"Hey, you okay?" a soft voice asked. Kara blinked, sitting up despite the headache. It was day time. Her eyes eventually came back into focus, revealing Caitlin standing beside her in a lab coat.

"Barry, is he…"

"I'm fine," Barry said, appearing beside Caitlin and grabbing Kara's hand. She let out a soft sigh of relief.

"He heals a lot faster than you," Caitlin said, laughing.

She sat up rubbing her temples.

"What about Clark?"

"He was still out of it last time I checked, but he should be up any minute now." Kara smiled, then something exploded in the room outside.

"What was that?" Caitlin and Barry both winced. Kara jumped off the bed and pushed past them.

Winn, Cisco, Lena and Ray Palmer were huddled around a desk, each wearing a coat and goggles, fiddling with a small cube-shaped device. A device she recognised.

"Is that the…"

"The machine Lex Luthor designed to irradiate the atmosphere with Kryptonite to kill me? Yes. Yes, it is," Clark stated, hobbling over to her, using Lois for support. He was holding his chest, where a compression bandage had been wrapped.

"Should you be up?" she admonished.

"No," Lois stated flatly.

"Would it stop you?" he asked.

"No," she admitted, before pulling him into a gentle hug. She released him, and Clark caught sight of Barry, now back in his mask.

"For what it's worth Flash, I'm sorry for punching you."

"Not your fault," Barry said, waving him off.

"Also, I'd just like to say that Kara couldn't do much better in a boyfriend."

Kara snorted and rolled her eyes. Barry started stammering a little. She glanced at him warmly and he blushed beneath his mask. Barry spent as many nights in her apartment in National City as he did in STAR Labs these days. They'd talked about the next step. About getting married properly this time. Barry had asked to wait until Godspeed was dealt with, and, now this. Once Rhea had been sent packing, they needed to sit down and have a conversation about how they were going to approach the future.

"As fluffy and sappy as this all is," Cat said, walking in six-inch heals down the hall, "Perhaps it could wait until the alien invasion is dealt with?"

* * *

THE PRESENT…

"The Justice League huh," J'onn said, nodding slowly.

"I like it," Sara said, beaming.

"Oh yeah. Super badass," Ray agreed, grinning like an idiot.

"So everything else happened the same way?" J'onn asked.

"Sort of," Alex said, "M'gann freed you from the mental prison. Rhea, who survived the fall, challenged Kara to Dakkam Ur. She cheated with Kryptonite while her remaining soldiers attacked the Daily Planet. The 'Justice League' fought them off. Kara detonated the Lead Bomb, and the few remaining Daxamite ships – there weren't very many by this point believe me – fled into space. Any left on the ground were rounded up by Hal and the Green Lantern Corps and taken to the science-cells on Oa."

"And Mon-El?"

"The Legion," Cisco and Ray said in tandem.

"Long story," Alex said, "Basic version is Kara used her Legion Ring to send him into the future."

Barry and Kara weren't really listening. They had scooted apart as Cisco recounted what alternate them had told him of their time in the Music Meister's hallucination, and both of them had yet to get rid of the crimson in their cheeks.

_Married?_ She had been married _to Barry_ in the Duet dream. Their alternate selves had lived together as husband and wife for months. That was even weirder than the original version! Though, she couldn't admit, watching him sit there with his red face, trying desperately hard not to look at her, that he was kind of cute. She remembered their first meeting, way back when. She had thought he was cute then too. Charming, funny. A superhero. The type of person that could really understand what it was like to be her. But she'd quashed those feelings. She was still hung up on James at the time, and he'd needed to go home. Back to his Earth. She wondered how meeting Barry before James might have changed her. How knowing about Barry being the Flash had influenced her feelings. Had this alternate history Kara had a relationship with Barry that no one had brought up yet. It made sense that they'd worked together more, being on the same Earth and all.

She also couldn't deny that she still felt… safer… warmer maybe, being in his presence. She wasn't sure when it had started, but she'd definitely felt it since she'd awoken on Cisco's Earth-Prime.

She yawned, blinking away the tiredness in her eyes.

"Maybe that's enough for this evening?" John suggested. The group agreed, and they made promises to meet up again tomorrow. They separated, Sara and Ray heading towards the doors – no doubt the Waverider was parked outside. Cisco opened a Breach for John, then travelled through one himself. Alex headed for her motorbike and J'onn… J'onn made his way towards M'gann, nodding slightly to Barry and Kara.

"Kara," Barry said hesitantly, "I… Thank you. For everything. For the talk about Iris… for being there for this version of me. Hearing about how we worked together here, to be honest, I really wish I remembered this world instead of our own. It still has just as many challenges. As many tribulations… but… well, it's easier to face your fears when you have your friends beside you."

"Your superfriends Barry," Kara said, winking at him. He laughed.

"Yeah. Superfriends indeed." He pulled her into a hug. Then, rather brazenly, kissed her on the cheek. Then he was gone.

Kara smiled softly to herself, fingers hovering over the place he'd kissed her. Then she skipped out of the bar and into the parking lot, before shooting into the sky and flying back to her loft. She flew in through the open window, frowning, as she didn't think she'd left the lights on.

She landed and started to head to her bedroom to get changed.

"Mom!" A girl about seven years old with shoulder-length wavy blonde hair was kneeling backwards on the couch, peering over the lip at Kara with sparkling blue eyes. The TV was on behind her, playing a kids show of some sort.

Kara froze. _Mom._ The girl jumped up from the couch, reaching for something on the coffee table. A workbook, like the ones Kara used to use at school. The girl bounded up to Kara, a brilliant smile on her face, and handed the book to Kara.

"I finished all my homework! I did most of it at school today because Mrs Meadows was out sick again and we had a substitute teacher who wasn't very interesting. He spent most of his time on his phone and he was thinking about football for most of the day but at one point I couldn't really understand him for a bit because there was a lot of fighting and yelling and groaning involved and I think he was watching a video on his phone so I just ignored it like you taught me to ignore it and it worked really good…" the girl continued talking about her day, but Kara could only stare at the name on the workbook cover.

_This book is the property of Ellie Allen._

* * *

**_Mwahahahahahaha! See you soon!_**


	7. Ellie

THE PRESENT…

Barry was halfway back to Central City when the Legion Ring on his finger began pulsing rapidly. He skidded to a stop on the i70, eliciting several honks as trucks rushed past him despite the late hour. He held the ring up to his eyes and saw that the L symbol had transformed into Kara's S sigil, and it was flashing red.

Within microseconds, he had turned around and was racing back towards National City.

* * *

Kara was, to put it mildly, panicking. A little girl with golden hair and sparkling blue eyes was standing in front of her in a green night-shirt and a pair of loose tracksuit pants, staring up at Kara, searching for recognition. And she had called Kara _Mom._

_'Alex. I'm going to kill you.'_

"Why are you going to kill Aunty Alex?" Ellie asked, frowning. She looked to the homework book in Kara's hand, and her frown deepened.

"Did I do something wrong? I promise if somethings wrong it was my fault. Aunty Alex didn't help. She only ever helps me if I can't do it on my own. She's mean like that." Ellie's eyes widened. "I didn't mean it! I swear! It just came out and I didn't think about it and it was so rude and it makes sense that I did something wrong and…" Ellie dropped her head, eyes fixed on the floor, hands trembling, and Kara _finally_ snapped out of her haze.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You did nothing wrong, alright?" Kara kneeled down and pulled Ellie into a hug. The girl clung to her, and Kara couldn't help the feeling of warmth that flooded through her. It was… it was almost as if her body recognised the feeling of being hugged by this girl, but her mind did not.

"Mommy's just really tired," Kara said, stroking Ellie's back. "I'm going to call your Aunty Alex and see if we can't come to a less… deadly solution, okay?" How had the girl even known that? Kara hadn't said it out loud. Of that, she was sure.

Ellie lifted her head from Kara's chest, squinting eyes searching Kara's.

"Mommy… you're scaring me," she whispered.

Kara's heart gave two quick jerks at the words.

"What's scaring you?" she asked softly. Ellie said nothing. She just kept staring into Kara's eyes. A spike of pain shot through her head, and Kara winced, stumbling backward. Ellie pulled herself from Kara's grip, and Kara watched, stunned, as Ellie's eyes shifted from blue to purple in colour.

"Who are you?" Ellie demanded, "where's my mom?"

Kara's heart started beating faster and faster, hands shaking. This was not happening. It simply _wasn't._ She did not have a daughter that couldn't remember her. She… she couldn't believe that.

The door swung open and Barry appeared.

"Kara! What's going…"

"Dad!" Ellie screamed, running towards Barry and jumping at him. Barry caught her reflexively, and she wrapped one arm around his neck while pointing at Kara with her other hand.

"Doppelgänger! Doppelgänger!"

Kara remained on her knees, staring forward, eyes unseeing. _Mom. Mom. Mom. You're scaring me. _My daughter. She had a daughter. With Barry. And nobody had thought to _mention that!_

Barry blinked, staring at the figure in his arms. Then he took a deep breath and knelt down beside Kara. Ellie flinched away from her.

"I can hear her, Daddy! She doesn't know me! Please, Daddy not again. Mommy, please don't leave me again."

Kara looked into those glowing purple eyes. Then, the world around her evaporated, and she was transported to another place. Another time. And she was another Kara.

* * *

THE FLASH: S4EP01 – ELLIE (PART I) (SEPTEMBER 2017)

Barry raced down East-32nd Street in Central City, wreathed in lightning. His target was an orphanage in the Roughs district near the edge of the city, and the Dark Matter explosion that just detonated there.

"Supergirl to League, I have eyes on the orphanage."

_"What are we looking at Supergirl?"_

"Structural damage to the north-west side and fires have broken out on the bottom floor."

"Copy that," Barry said. He zoomed down the avenue, past several poorly kept houses with boarded windows or cracked rendering, before finally spotting the orphanage.

"Ten people on the upper floors!" Kara cried out. "Arrow, I need an evac! Flash, take the bottom floors!"

Barry blasted past the fire-engines, jumping over a wall of flames and crashing through a window at superspeed. Then he entered 'Flashtime'. Everything froze. The fires, the people, the collapsing roof. He was moving so fast the world around him, Kara included simply couldn't keep up with him.

He picked his way through the floor, approaching a group of people huddling from the frames in what looked like a lounge room. An adult man, a teenage girl and three young children. Cracking his knuckles, Barry grabbed two of the kids first, then raced them to the fire truck outside. He returned for the other kid, then the adult. Finally, he grabbed the girl and flashed her outside, letting the world snap back into real-time in the process.

The girl in his arms sucked in a breath as Barry put her down and started back towards the building. An explosion echoed from the next building over, and a fire-escape fell free from the wall. An arrow shot from the building's roof, slamming into the side of the burning orphanage. It exploded, taking a chunk of the brick with it. Enough so that the falling fire-escape crashed into the wall of the orphanage, forming a bridge between the two structures. Oliver appeared, jumping off the roof and landing on the fire-escape. He slung his bow around his back and ran across the makeshift bridge, stopping halfway as a group of people rushed out. He guided them across the bridge and into a shattered window in the other building.

Barry turned to one of the fire-men.

"Get some people into that building!" he barked.

"Yes Flash!" One of the firemen said. He gestured to one of his friends and, and they broke away, racing towards the building.

"Flash," the girl breathed – Barry hadn't realised she was still gripping his arm, "you saved me."

"Yep," he said, not even noticing as the girl batted her eyelids at him.

Barry flashed back into the building, moving up the stairs to check for runners. He spotted no-one, so instead turned his attention to searching for the source of the blaze. He followed the stairs down, right into the heart of the fire. Moving as fast as he was, it wasn't hard to avoid the flames, though he could still feel the incredible heat.

He dodged the flickering tongues of fire and ran up the wall to avoid a patch of collapsed floorboards… wait, this was supposed to be the ground floor. A basement? Barry dropped back to the ground and peered into the basement. Something was giving off light down there. Gritting his teeth, he jumped into the hole.

It was much cooler down here, and Barry let himself slide back into ordinary time.

"_Looks like everyone's clear,"_ Kara said.

"I've got a secret room under the building. Possibly the source of the blast," Barry told them.

_"I'll search for a back entrance. Supergirl, help Flash." _

_"Copy."_

Barry concentrated, willing a tiny current of lightning through his left arm. The golden lightning flickered to life, providing some illumination to the space.

In the centre of the room was a large device, blackened and scorched, circular in shape but tiered like a pyramid. The apex of the machine was pointed straight at the broken roof. Several desks had been set up around it, but they'd been scattered in the blast.

A burst of air quelled the flames in the room above, and Kara dropped down into the hole, floating in the air. She powered up her eyes, providing more illumination, and Barry saw what he'd missed before. Three corpses were lying on the ground, all burnt to a crisp.

"Oh Rao," Kara breathed, touching down beside him.

"Arrow. We've got a lab down here, and several bodies. Better call in the…" Whimpers. Barry and Kara both froze, searching for a further sound.

"Hello?" Kara called, "Is anyone there? It's Supergirl!"

A soft rustling came from the other side of the room, and Barry and Kara both ran in that direction. The light from Kara's eyes revealed several children, ranging from toddlers to teens, all chained to the wall. All of them had been… deformed. Horribly. One boy's skin had been turned to solid stone, another's skin had turned a horrid purple colour, and blood was seeping from his eyes. Two young girls had somehow been fused together, and a teenage boy's eyes had burned in their sockets.

All of them were dead. At least, everyone who was left. Three more sets of restraints were fixed to the wall. One had been broken, one was sitting open, and the final set was still locked, though there was no person to be found.

"Hello?" Kara tried again. No reply. Kara panned around the room, but they couldn't find the source of the voice… until Barry refocussed on the machine. There was a disturbance on this side. It wasn't as smooth… He gasped, then raced over to the device, illuminating his arm again.

A toddler had been strapped to the machine, dozens of wires attached to her head and two intravenous lines in her arms. Her body was incredibly thin and malnourished, and she had only a grey smock covering her body. She seemed to be barely conscious, muttering silently, head sunk into her chest.

Kara let out a strangled cry, rushing over and grabbing the girl's head. She didn't' stir, and Kara made to pull the wires away.

"Wait! We don't know what it could do?!" Barry exclaimed, grabbing her hand.

The sound of a creaking door drew their attention, and light pooled into the room. There was a hallway they hadn't noticed before, and at the end of it, Oliver dropped into the basement.

"Fire's out," he said, moving towards them, then he stopped, catching sight of the girl.

"Oh crap," he muttered. But the light had illuminated something else. Tapped to the side of the machine, near the girl's head, was a sticky note with black writing on it.

_See you next time, Flash._

Barry grabbed the note, and the machine jerked to life once more. Barry and the girl both screamed at the same time as the lightning in Barry's arm was sucked into the machine. Kara grabbed the girl and yanked the wires free as Oliver raced forward. The second she did so, the engine exploded. Barry, Kara and Oliver were all thrown backwards, Kara putting her body between the explosion and the girl, shielding her as she screamed.

Barry crashed into the wall, falling to the ground, groaning in pain. Oliver rolled to his feet, and Kara caught herself in the air, cape wrapped around her and the girl. The explosion funnelled upwards through the hole in the floor, dispersing, and Barry shook his head in an attempt to clear the ringing in his ears.

"Ow," he muttered, rolling over and shaking his now numb hand. Kara landed on the ground, unwrapping her cape. The girl was staring around in a panic, heavy breathing.

"Hey, hey, hey sweetheart, it's Supergirl. You're okay now. You're okay," Kara assured her, rocking the figure in her arms. Barry was instantly reminded of Jeremiah, their little boy from the Duet dreamworld.

Oliver helped Barry to his feet. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Barry grumbled. "Probably just the electromagnetic fields interacting."

The girl tucked her head into Kara's chest, calming down. Kara continued to rock her until the poor girl finally stilled, falling asleep. Kara nodded to Barry, tears in her eyes.

"Take her to STAR Labs," Barry said, "We need to know what happened to her."

"What will you do?" She whispered.

"Barry Allen is going to do some forensics on this nightmare place," he said, looking over the lab with a sour expression.

Oliver turned to Kara.

"I'll brief the cops, then meet you back at STAR." Together, the three advanced towards the open door, and out into the light.

Meanwhile, in a parallel pocket dimension, an elderly man in a hover-chair, the fastest mind alive, grinned.

* * *

THE PRESENT…

Kara sucked in a ragged breath, pulling her gaze away from Ellie's.

"Kara!" Barry reached a handout and grabbed her shoulder. A spark of yellow electricity ran down his arm and into Kara, and everything froze.

For Kara, her super hearing was on at all times. It was not something one could turn off on command. The only way she could go about her day was by ignoring it. Forcing herself to focus on the here and now. But in that second, for the first time in living memory, Kara's world fell silent. All sound simply faded out of existence. Gone, as if it had never been. She blinked, focussing on Barry's hand on her shoulder. Ellie sat, frozen, in Barry's other arm.

"Kara?" Barry asked, his voice coming crisp and clear in the silence.

"What did you do?"

"It's Flashtime. It's… It's kind of how I see the world."

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"It does have a peaceful sort of vibe to it," Barry admitted. Kara closed her eyes, then, when she thought she was just a bit more in control of herself, she looked back to the girl in Barry's arms. Hair that seemed to glow a faint golden colour at the roots. Slightly tan skin and a small crease line from what she assumed was a dimple on her left cheek that formed when she smiled. She supposed the girl did look a bit like her, though she could see nothing of Barry. But those eyes. A deep indigo colour, with a strange sparkle to them that felt _unnatural. _

She reached out and pressed against Ellie's skin. There was no difference Kara could detect on the surface, so, biting her lip, she pushed down just a little harder.

"What are you doing?" Barry asked cautiously.

"Testing." There was no resistance to her touch. No trace of invulnerability. She wasn't Kryptonian.

No. This girl. Ellie. She was not Kara's blood. But that didn't mean that this girl wasn't Kara's daughter. That machine… she had seen it in her mind… almost as if she had lived it…

"She's telepathic," Kara realised. "She was reading my thoughts. That's how she knew I wasn't her mother."

"Mother?" As in, she's…"

"The other Kara's daughter. The Kara I… replaced."

"Replaced? Kara, you're not making any sense."

Kara took a deep breath, feeling tears start to well up in her eyes. She turned to Barry, looking at the confusion marring his face.

"This girl. Her mother was the Kara Danvers that Oliver weaved into this world. Not me. I… By waking up here as I did, I effectively erased Ellie… my… _her_ daughter's mother from existence. I replaced her. Oh god…" Kara's breath hitched, and she tried to pull away from Barry, but he kept his grip on her.

"I killed her mom."

"Kara you didn't…" She wouldn't hear it. _Couldn't_ hear the words he used to placate her. All she could hear were Ellie's words.

_"Mommy… you're scaring me."_

Mommy. She was a mother. Against her will, her brain mutinied. She found herself analysing how the girl spoke. In rapid sentences without taking a breath. Like Kara herself often spoke when she was excited. The way she'd sought Kara's praise, then instantly tried to determine what she'd done wrong to better herself when Kara hadn't given it. That was so _Barry_ it hurt.

_"Where's my Mom?"_

Kara jerked herself away from Barry, and the sounds of reality crashed back into her as the lightning pulled away. She couldn't look at the gorgeous little girl. She couldn't do it. Instead, she jumped through the nearest window, shattering it, then accelerating with a sonic boom. She had to get away. Had to… had to know that she hadn't killed Ellie's mother. Had to know if there was some way to bring that other Kara back. She needed Cisco.

* * *

THE FLASH: S4EP01 – ELLIE (PART II)

Kara laid the unconscious girl down on a bed in STAR Labs, staring down at the emaciated, pale face. It was hard to gauge her age. She was so thin and small. She could realistically be anywhere from three to five years old. What had this kid been through?

Caitlin took over, scanning the girl while Cisco typed away at his tablet.

"Weird," he muttered, scratching at his chin.

"What?" Kara asked. Caitlin was far too busy with the girl. She'd already prepped a bag of saline to try and rehydrate their sleeping patient.

"It's… It's _weird,"_ Cisco said again.

"Yes, I got that the first time," Kara noted dryly. She leaned over Cisco's shoulder, staring at the readings from Caitlin's scanners. They looked very familiar, though she couldn't place why.

Cisco furrowed his brow, before moving towards the Cortex, utterly oblivious of Kara's curiosity. He sat down at his desk, transferring the file across. Then he pulled up another one. This one she recognised instantly.

"Barry," she said.

"Mmmmm," Cisco muttered. He overlaid the two samples, and though there were differences, the similarity between the two was undeniable. Cisco started typing rapidly, and the screen next to him changed to a map of the city, several smaller windows around the edge of the screen. He hit the enter key, and the map zoomed into STAR Labs. The time code in the corner said _December 14, 2013. _The Day of the Particle Accelerator Explosion. A shockwave emerged from the facility, and the map zoomed out as the wave covered the city. As it moved, several pins dropped, the accompanying flags displaying names of various metahumans the Flash had either faced or met. She even saw Barry's own pin, marked by an abnormally large dark matter signature. The lightning bolt.

The map continued to shrink as the shockwave lessened in strength and moved further out. Then Cisco paused it, and Kara looked closer. He was staring at another dark matter signature, over a hospital near the edge of the city. It was almost an exact match to Barry's.

"Cisco…" Kara started, but the genius ignored her _again._ He returned his attention to the screen, using Felicity's hacking app to search through personnel files of people in the hospital, trying to match faces to the girl currently in Caitlin's ICU.

"Yahtzee!" he exclaimed, slumping back in his chair.

"Caitlin! You gotta see this!" He called. Caitlin appeared a moment later. Cisco cast the files to one of the larger monitors, and Kara could finally see what exactly he'd found.

* * *

Barry knelt with Joe and Captain Singh beside the burnt machine.

"Any ideas, Allen?" Singh asked.

Barry threw his hands up in the air.

"I'm no experimental physicist or quantum mechanics technician, Captain," he admitted, "I'm way over my head here."

"Can you give me a guess?" He asked. That was one of the many things Barry liked about the Captain. The man expected the best, but he didn't expect you to be an expert about things you knew nothing about.

"I think that this device was supposed to harness the powers of that girl the Green Arrow told us was strapped to it." Barry gestured to the now loose wires and drains. He'd already inventoried the place and taken photos for Cisco and Caitlin.

"How I don't know, and I can't really speculate without knowing who the girl was or why she was important. That being said, I'm glad she's with the Flash and his people because I doubt we'd have the means to help her." Barry glanced to Joe, who rolled his eyes at that comment.

"Agreed," Singh said, gesturing for Barry to continue.

"My best guess is that, whoever these people were, they were trying to use the girl to create new Metahumans."

"Great," Joe grumbled, "Just what we need."

"But they failed, and caused the explosion?" Singh asked.

Barry hesitated, glancing towards the mutilated corpses still strung up on the wall. They looked even more disturbing in the light.

"Caused the explosion, yes. Failed? I don't think so. Not entirely." He gestured towards the empty places.

"Three survived. One broke free of the restraints, another managed to remove themselves without opening them – most likely a result of their metahuman power – and a third opened them the old-fashioned way." Singh and Joe shivered, and Barry led them over to the charred corpses on the floor.

"I won't be able to get any identifiers from these guys," Barry explained, "Dark Matter burns aren't like regular fire. It warps the DNA and corrodes the bone, so even dentures won't provide a very accurate profile. At this level of saturation? Well, to be honest, it's a miracle there are even bodies to be _found_."

Barry stood up, dusting off his hands. "I've collected samples anyway, but don't get your hopes up."

Singh nodded. "Good work Allen." Then he moved away to speak to the fire-chief.

"STAR Labs?" Joe asked.

Barry nodded.

"I'll meet you there. Gotta drop this off at the precinct first…"

* * *

STAR Labs had changed the past few months. No longer was the facility in disrepair, locked down by FEMA. Instead, the metal gates had been torn down, the holes in the roof patched, security upgraded. The building had even received a paint job. For the first time since the disaster, STAR truly resembled the powerhouse it had once been.

Thanks to the founding of the Justice League, the superhuman community was growing larger by the month as new heroes came out of the woodwork. And thanks not only to its connection to Metahumans and Team Flash but also its central and easily accessible location, the facility was becoming a sort of hub, where all the Justice League members could regularly meet up. It even contained a dedicated team training room now. Harry, Cisco, Felicity and Winn had teamed up to build it; Barry was still nursing bruises from the last session. Not only that, but with the Speed Canon in the basement, it was also the gateway to the Multiverse, something that was becoming harder and harder to hide the existence of.

Leaving the building in disrepair had become a sort of non-option. Between Kara's epic marketing and administration skills learnt at the side of Cat Grant and Felicity's ability to manipulate the digital realm, they'd managed to get the federal regulations banning STAR from use lifted. That meant they could start actual research once more, instead of living only off the money they made from STAR Labs licensed patents. Then, with a recently 'resurrected' Ray Palmer's money, they'd put construction crews to work rebuilding the place. Team Flash had needed to move to a backup lair (which Oliver had chosen for them, after a long lecture about how they should have already made one) for a few months. Now they were back, and once again thanks to Kara's reporting and contacts, they'd even managed to avoid a media outcry. Cisco and Caitlin had then spent the next month preparing several of their inventions from the first few years – ones that didn't expose their Metahuman or Multiversal operations – for public reception. The plan was to start making real money again by Christmas.

Barry flashed into the Cortex to find Oliver, Cisco, Caitlin, Kara and Joe waiting for him.

"So, where's our mystery girl?" he asked.

"Sleeping," Caitlin said, "She's incredibly weak. Judging by her Vitamin D deficiency, I'd guess she was down in that lab for at least a month. Perhaps longer." Barry winced.

"That's disgusting. We've got to find out who's behind this and stop them before they try again."

"Agreed," Joe mirrored, "but we don't have any leads. At least not until you knuckleheads figure something out." He gestured to Cisco and Caitlin.

They all fell silent.

"What?"

Cisco pressed a button on his tablet, and a woman's face appeared on the large overhead monitor. She was young, perhaps a little younger than Barry, with brown hair and bright blue eyes.

"Meet Mira Ardern, a college student at Central City University, studying Quantum Field Theory."

"Should I know her?" Barry asked.

"No," Caitlin said, "she died four years ago."

"The night of the Particle Accelerator Explosion," Cisco added. Barry bit his lip.

"The girl's related to her?"

"We can't be certain," Caitlin said, "But we think, based on the genetic markers and… other evidence… that she's her daughter."

"Born at the exact same time a bolt of lightning from the storm struck the hospital Mira was in. A massive spike of Dark Matter saturated the building, and Miss Ardern died in childbirth. The child, and this is where things get really interesting, was born with _glowing_ hair."

"Jesus," Joe whispered. "What happened to her?"

"She was discharged into the care of the father, one Brian Eccleston. No further records of the girl exist, and Eccleston left town within a month of the explosion," Caitlin said, and Barry let out a shuddering breath.

"So, we have a metahuman baby, who was never registered and an absentee father. Doesn't take a genius to guess what happened to her."

"She was abandoned probably," Oliver said, "There's no way to know what happened after that. Not without speaking to the girl."

"Barry," Kara said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "there's another thing." Caitlin took the tablet from Cisco, putting up a new screen. It contained two cellular break downs. One he recognised as his own, another was different.

"The other sample is one I took from our mystery girl a few minutes ago," Caitlin said, "they're almost identical."

"Her cells appear to be generating some kind of energy and storing it, like your cells do, in the cytoskeleton. But the output ratio is vastly different. Barry… I think we might have just discovered the existence of _another_ force."

* * *

THE PRESENT…

Barry stared out the window, through which Kara had vanished. A daughter? Dad. This girl, this _telepathic_ girl, had called him Dad. Instantly, his battles with the Thinker and experience with Cecile came to his mind, and he immediately sped up his thoughts. It wasn't much and didn't require a lot of concentration, but the Speed Force would protect him from having his mind read. He had a feeling that would be a bad idea.

"Dad?" Ellie whispered, shifting in his arms to stare up at him. Her eyes changed back to blue, and the glow at the roots of her hair faded away. Barry looked into her eyes, and his heart almost shattered at the look of utter fear there. He knew that look. He'd seen it in the mirror after his parents had been snatched away from him. After Zoom had killed his father. It was the look of terror only someone who had experienced horrors before, and was now witnessing the same thing happen all over again could create. God, what had this poor girl seen? She couldn't be more than seven!

And Kara… she had gotten a glimpse of something when Ellie looked into her mind. But what? Why had she fled? As much as he wanted to, he couldn't chase her right now. Not that he'd be able to find her anyway most likely. No. The girl was the most pressing thing. The most important thing.

Had Barry been thinking clearly, he most likely would have noticed how, within seconds, this tiny person had become as important to him as anyone in his previous life had ever been. Justifiably, given his track record, this should have been a significant cause for alarm.

But Barry was not thinking clearly. So instead, he stood up, Ellie's face buried in his chest, and grabbed Kara's phone, dialling Alex.

* * *

THE FLASH: S4EP01 – ELLIE (PART III)

Barry sat in his office at CCPD, staring blankly at the pages on his desk. He was supposed to be running the victim's DNA, but all he could think about was that little girl.

A new force. The Speed Force wasn't alone. How had they _missed _that?! It was so incredibly obvious it wasn't funny! Of course, there would be more than one cosmic force out there.

The question he kept asking himself was, what does it do? The Speed Force's job was to ensure that time continued moving forward, stopping the fourth-dimension from collapsing into the third. Arguably, this was a rather important task, so the force that the girl was linked too must have some integral job as well.

He didn't know how long he sat there, only stirring when two hands fell on his shoulders and began massaging them.

"Thanks," he whispered, eyes closed.

"You looked like you need it," Kara said softly, and he could hear the slight smile in her voice. "Oliver's gone back to Starling. Mayor stuff. I tell you, Cisco cannot get that transmat tech finished soon enough."

"This girl Kara… she could be the key to yet another incredible door that will tear open our understanding of reality. The Speed Force can do so much… what can this new power do? Not to mention, who is after her? What happened in that lab? The machine was fried. I have no idea how it worked, and I doubt Cisco will be able to figure it out either."

He sighed, leaning back into her expert touch. "Kara… I'm scared. This… this screams that there's a new player out there. The note? The girl? Whoever this new threat is… they knew we'd find the lab. Counted on it even. This has been planned for a long time. I… I can't deal with a planner. Not again."

"Then we throw whoever it is off their game from the start," Kara said, and Barry cracked an eye, staring up into his girlfriend's gorgeous face. Once again, he was reminded of the ring sitting, hidden, in a lead-lined box in his desk drawer. Felicity, Sara, Alex and Caitlin had travelled back to the 1920s with him on the Waverider to help him choose it.

"What do you mean?"

Kara bit her lip.

"Well… I mean… We stopped using protection two months ago, and we haven't had any success yet. Maybe… maybe we help this girl. Adopt her. She's obviously important to this person's plan. We can both take care of her. Protect her." She paused for a second before continuing.

"Alex will be more than willing to help too. She's always wanted kids… always wanted to be a mother figure, but with her job, it just wasn't in the cards, and Maggie doesn't want kids… Maybe it could give her some closure." She trailed off, eyes unfocussed, attention elsewhere, and Barry found himself considering her words. They hadn't had any success in… _that _area. Though not for lack of trying. Threats had dialled back, and with the Justice League, they had protocols in place for dealing with major enemies. Maybe this time it wasn't the Flash that needed to save the world. Perhaps it was Barry Allen who could be there for this little girl. He smiled at Kara, still looking into the middle-distance. She would be a brilliant mother.

"Okay. Let's do it. You're right. There's no better way to protect her. And… well, with you as a Mom? I can't imagine anyone better to pull her out of the darkness she's been trapped in."

Kara beamed, then leaned down and kissed him.

God, he loved this girl.

* * *

Barry and Kara were sitting beside the STAR Labs hospital bed when their young charge finally stirred. She awoke slowly, then, like a rabbit fleeing headlights, she jerked upright and scooted away from them.

"Hey, hey… it's alright sweetie, it's alright." Kara said, holding out her hands. She and Barry wore their civilian clothes.

"Who… where am I?"

"You're in our secret-headquarters," Barry said, smiling softly as the girl's bright blue eyes scanned the room, then focussed on Barry and Kara. "My name's Barry, this is Kara. But, you'd know us better as…"

Barry's words trailed off as the girl's eyes flashed violet, the roots of her hair emanating with a soft golden light for a few moments.

"Supergirl and the Flash," she finished, fear shifting to awe. Kara reached out and took her hand.

"What's your name?"

The girl paused, once again scanning Kara's face. Her eyes flickered between blue and violet, then her body deflated, and she relaxed into Kara's grip.

"Ellie."

"Just Ellie?" The girl paused.

"The nuns called me Elizabeth, but I like Ellie," she said simply.

"Ellie it is then," Kara said, smiling.

"Ellie, do you know what happened to you?" Barry asked softly. He sat down on the bed beside her, and Ellie leaned into him.

"I… The nuns at the orphanage. They started acting strange a little while ago. They… they didn't like me very much."

"Because of your gift?" Kara sat down on Ellie's other side, still holding her hand. Ellie nodded.

"I can… hear things. Things I'm not supposed to. Understand things I shouldn't." A telepath. That was cool. Ellie turned sharply towards Barry, eyes violet.

"You really think?" she asked, a pleading look in her eyes.

"You bet. You're just like us. I'm super-fast, she's super strong, and you can hear thoughts. It's not so different." Ellie practically beamed.

"I'm just like you?"

"You bet," Kara said, running her free hand through Ellie's hair. "A superhero in the making."

Ellie rested her head on Barry's chest, eyes drooping.

"Ellie? Before you go to sleep, can we ask you something?" Kara whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to come home with us?" Ellie froze, then looked Kara in the eye.

"You mean it? You'll be my… I've never had a mom." Tears started running down Kara's face, and she pulled Ellie and Barry into a hug. They lay like that for a long time, as both Kara and Ellie fell asleep, and Barry held them both. At one point, Cisco, Caitlin and Joe came to check on them, but they left without a word. Though there was most certainly a tear in Joe West's eye.

* * *

THE PRESENT…

Alex opened the door to Kara's apartment, hair dishevelled and eyes frantic.

"Ellie? Is she okay?"

Barry was sitting at Kara's counter, nursing the bottle of Okaran Rum.

"Asleep. I managed to explain that Kara's just had an accident with time-travel. She seemed to understand."

Alex released a long breath of relief.

"Thank Rao," she muttered, "Barry… I'm so sorry. I just assumed Ellie was yours in your history too. I mean, you and Kara weren't together over there, but I didn't realise neither of you'd have no idea who she was." She slumped into the seat beside Barry.

"Where's…"

"Kara? No idea. She jumped out the window and vanished." He gestured behind him to a shattered window that Alex had been too frantic to notice before. He turned to her, locking eyes with hers.

"Alex. Tell me everything you know about my daughter."

* * *

**_Authors Notes:_**

_You get this chapter earlier because we felt bad for last week's cliffy. More on Ellie's origin and connection will be revealed in the next chapter, which we're proud to say will feature Lena's first on-screen appearance! That being said, because we have to rewrite a significant part of the Thinker and Reign plots, it might take a few weeks. Here's a question, did you guys want shorter chapters more regularly, or the longer ones we've been doing every couple of weeks?_

_We also have some big news. We have been working hard for over a year now on the draft of our original novel. Approximately one month ago, we completed this draft and submitted it for review to certain people whom we cannot name. Then, a week ago, we received some excellent news that, once again, we can't tell you. We would love to give you guys a taster, but because of Copyright, we can't._

_Furthermore, we will be participating in the Jericho Writers Summer Festival of Writing running from June to September. For you guys, that means we might try our hands at Oneshots from time to time to flex our writing muscles or try out new techniques. If any of you are aspiring writers of your own, here is a link for you to check out (just remove the spaces)._

_ jerichowriters festival-of-writing/_

_Thanks so much for all your fantastic and awesome reviews! They really do warm the heart every time they trickle into our inbox. We always reply to your reviews, but because of the new Fanfiction . net guidelines, they won't send you emails to notify you of our replies, so you'll need to check your account._

_To our Guest reviewers, please, please create an account so we can answer you! It takes only a few minutes._

_To Guest from April 27: Thank you so very much for your praise, good-sir or madame. We're sorry for making you wait so long for chapter 6, and, though we would apologise for the cliff-hanger… It would be a lie, so we won't. Take care, and make sure you stay just as safe._

_Finally, a shout-out to AmayaBlack, who released an awesome answer to the original challenge prompt a few days ago on FFN and Archive. Go check it out!_

_With love, Ghost and Miracle._


	8. The Thinker

DISCLAIMER:

_*beep, beep, beep…_

_Hi! You've reached Ghost and Miracle. We can't come to the Author's Notes right now because we're trapped on Earth 0 trying to avoid being brutally murdered by The Batman Who Laughs and dragged into the Dark Multiverse for all eternity. We do not own any copyrighted franchise depicted within our stories. Please leave us a review, and we'll reply if we haven't been Infected._

_*beeeeeeep._

* * *

THE PRESENT…

Kara touched down outside STAR Labs and made her way to the cortex. This turned out to be a supremely bad decision, as she encountered several scientists – human and alien – on the way. People she'd never seen before. All of them retreated at the sight of her dishevelled and ragged appearance. Eventually, after getting turned around twice, she reached the cortex, but the person she found there was not Cisco.

It was Lena Luthor.

"Lena?" Kara whispered, jaw-dropping open. Lena turned away from the console, brilliant smile on her face.

"Kara? You look terrible, what's going on?"

Kara had no idea what to say. Lena… she was looking at her like she'd done before. Before she learned that Kara was Supergirl. Before she'd discovered the depth of Kara's utter betrayal of her friend. Did this Lena not know? But then what was she doing in STAR Labs?

"Kara? Was it an alien? A metahuman? Do I need to call someone? Is Ellie okay?"

Kara flinched at the name, grabbing hold of the wall and crushing the cement. Her head swam, the image of that horrible machine flooding her mind. That voice… that gorgeous terrified voice.

Beyond the haze of Kara's tired and panicked mind, Lena pushed a red button on the console beside her, then rushed to Kara's side, grabbing her under the arm and holding her steady.

"Hey, hey, hey? What's wrong? What happened?"

Kara swallowed, and before she could stop herself, words were tumbling from her mouth.

"You don't hate me?" Lena's eyes widened.

"Hate you? I could never hate you! You're my best friend, Kara."

Tears welled in her eyes, and she slumped down the wall, Lena kneeling with her.

"Don't worry, Caitlin's on her way. Let's get you to a bed." Exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally, Lena was able to manhandle her to a gurney with relative ease. Kara passed out the second her head hit the pillow.

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S3EP02 – DAUGHTERS (COLD OPEN)

**September, 2017**

Kara opened the door to her loft and led Ellie inside, a tiny hand gripped in hers. Barry brought up the rear. Ellie was staring around the room in total awe, a Supergirl plushie gripped tightly to her chest.

"What do you think?" Kara asked.

"It's amazing! You really live here?"

"Yep!"

"And I get to live here too?" Kara grinned softly.

"You better believe it."

"Wow…" Ellie whispered. She let go of Kara's hand and ran into the centre of the room, spinning around several times as she giggled. Barry closed the door behind them, then leaned in to whisper something in Kara's ear.

"Alex, Lena and Maggie…"

"Are behind the couches!" Ellie exclaimed, stopping her twirling and staring into the loungeroom in confusion.

"Why are you hiding?" She asked in confusion. Alex pocked her head up from behind Kara's couch, scowling. Kara facepalmed.

"Note, surprise parties don't work when you're adopted daughter is telepathic," Lena observed, raising her head up beside Alex's. Maggie appeared on Alex's other side, then raised an air-horn above her head and blasted it.

"SURPRISE!" Alex winced, and Lena detonated an air-canon of confetti, letting the flakes of paper rain around Ellie's head. The tiny girl absolutely beamed, and Kara's heart melted. Daughter. She wasKara's _daughter_ now. In every way shape and form. She'd signed the adoption papers this morning. As of that moment, Ellie was officially Elizabeth Danvers, care-dependent of Barry Allen and Kara Danvers.

It had been daunting and euphoric at the same time. Alex was over the moon, and Eliza should be arriving soon, having insisted on catching the first train after Kara had called and explained the situation to her.

As Ellie rushed over to Alex and pulled her into a hug, Barry wrapped an arm around Kara's shoulders, and she leaned into his shoulder.

This was perfect.

* * *

THE PRESENT…

"Okay," Alex said, pacing back and forth, "So, after you guys found Ellie in that lab, you took her in, partly to protect her, partly because realistically, you were the only ones who could take care of her." Barry ran a hand through his head.

"And we co-parented?"

"More or less," Alex said, taking a sip from her mug of coffee.

"She lived here with Kara for the most part – you decided that keeping her out of Central City was probably smarter, and you could run between cities much quicker than Kara could fly."

"Makes sense."

"Ellie… to be honest, she probably saved my marriage." Barry blinked.

"What?"

"Maggie and I…, we couldn't agree on whether we wanted kids or not. I did, she didn't. But with Ellie to care for, I could focus all my attention on her. And we made it through. Two years of being married, and we haven't looked back once."

Barry sighed, unable to really focus on what Alex was saying. Instead, he was mulling things over in his head.

The Thinker. Did he use Ellie to create the Bus-Meta's in this timeline, instead of Barry himself? For Barry could think of no one but the Thinker who could be behind something so horrible. Dozens dead… Three metahumans escaped. The destroyed cuffs could have been Null, Janet Petty, a bus-meta with gravity bending powers. The closed cuffs… Ralph probably, or maybe Becky Sharpe. The open ones… Kilgore, if Barry had to bet.

Of course, that was assuming that the metahumans were the same as the bus metas at all. Who knew what had changed and what hadn't?

But if Ellie was simply telepathic… how had that given the Thinker the ability to charge people with Dark Matter? Something was missing here. Something about Ellie's powers he didn't understand.

"What else? What was DeVoe's plan?"

Alex winced.

"That bad, huh?"

* * *

THE FLASH: S4EP06 – I THINK; THEREFORE, I AM

**December, 2017**

"DeVoe," Barry said, pacing in the cortex of STAR Labs. Standing anxiously in various positions around the room were the members of Team Flash. Cisco, Caitlin, Joe, Harry and now Ralph. "His name was in the Flash Museum. He was one of our greatest foes. This has to be him."

"Are you sure? It could just be a coincidence," Joe pointed out.

"It has to be him. He did this to Ellie, abducted Ralph and Null and Kilgore and used that… that lab to turn them into Metahumans. But _how? _Why? What does he have to gain?"

"Maybe he wants to give himself Metahuman powers?" Caitlin suggested.

"But we've seen easier ways to do that," Cisco said, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed.

"We have. This guy hasn't. It could be just the first step to some master plan," she retorted, and Cisco threw his hands up.

"Point."

"Well, we can't act until we have his first name," Ralph said, "There are over fifty 'DeVoes in Central City alone." Barry continued to pace. Maybe Caitlin was right. Maybe this person just wanted to become a metahuman that bad, but Barry didn't buy that. There had to be some other plan. The Flash Museum had labelled DeVoe one of his greatest villains. Alongside Reverse-Flash and Zoom. Godspeed hadn't made that list. Grodd hadn't. But this new threat had. He remembered the armoured hoverchair locked away in the glass case.

When he'd gone up against Reverse-Flash and Zoom, they'd always been one step ahead of him. They'd predicted his actions and planned accordingly. Surely this new person would be watching them too. Would be planning for Barry's moves. Trying to anticipate him and the team.

He had to think like Thawne. Like Zoloman.

The others started talking about contacting the Council of Wells, which they'd met the previous year. Barry continued his pacing, mind whirling.

Thawne. He had known Barry intuitively because of his actions both in the future and their constant battles. He'd known to attach himself to Barry through the guise of friendship, agreeing to help him help others. He'd bet on Barry's kindness and compassion blinding him to the truth.

Zoom. Jay… Zoloman had tried a similar plan with a different method. He'd introduced himself as a source of information and backed that up by helping Barry to take down the villains he sent from Earth 2. He'd learned about Barry's attachments, and then, when he'd known enough to force him to give up his speed, he'd forgone the ruse. He'd abducted Wally to get Barry's speed. He'd killed Iris to trick him into powering the Magnetar. Barry's kindness had been the knife.

Ralph had asked about time-travel, and Cisco, Caitlin and Harry were emphatically talking about why that was a _terrible_ idea.

DeVoe. He hadn't built himself into the team as the others had. Which meant he had to have some other means of predicting their actions… or he'd set up a trap, and Barry's response had provided his adversary with the knowledge of what to do next. But what trap could he have fallen into? Null and Kilgore were locked up in Iron Heights. Could Ralph be a plant? If that was the case, why be so… _unlikeable?_ Jay and Thawne had positioned themselves as mentors, as well charactered allies to endear themselves to the team. Ralph was a pain in the _ass._ If Barry could risk kicking him from the team, he would.

So what was it? What trap could Barry have fallen into? What actions might have revealed to this hidden adversary, who didn't know him as Thawne and Zoom and August had, that Barry's compassion could be used against him?

"Oh _fuck,"_ he whispered. The room quieted, but before they could ask the reason for his outburst, he had already raced from the building, running down the interstate.

_Ellie._ Ellie had been his act of kindness. That gorgeous girl, who was kind and beautiful and full of love. The girl who'd attached herself so perfectly to Barry's heart, and Kara's for that matter. The perfect tool.

Hook. Line. Sinker.

Barry raced into Kara's loft, skidding to a stop. Alex lay sprawled on the floor, and floating in the middle of the room was the same chair he'd seen in the future. Seated atop it was a man with skin as pale as milk wearing a black bodysuit. Dozens of wires snaked from his head into the back of the chair; and trapped by the throat, tiny hands beating at it as she screamed, was Ellie.

"Put her down!"

"Barry, HELP!"

Barry nudged the Legion Ring as Ellie's scream threatened to crush him.

The man laughed.

"How sentimental. I must admit, hiding her in another city was a smart move. Unfortunately for you, I am _much faster._"

"Put my daughter down, DeVoe," Barry said, edging closer, eyes narrowed.

_'Barry!'_

_'I'm coming. I promise.'_

Ellie tried once again to pull DeVoe's hand from her throat, but the effort was futile.

"I must thank you for taking care of my property Mr Allen. You've done an impeccable job."

He wasn't surprised DeVoe knew his name. Had expected it. The question was, did DeVoe know Kara's identity?

"Now I really must be going."

"Wait!" Barry exclaimed, stepping forward and raising his hands in surrender. "What do you want?"

DeVoe hesitated, analysing Barry.

_'I love you, Ellie.'_

_'Bar… Daddy!'_

"To enlighten the world, Mr Allen. I want to enlighten the world." The chair, Ellie, and DeVoe all vanished in a flash of white, and not a second later, Kara flew into the loft, eyes ablaze. Too late. Barry sank to his knees and began to weep.

* * *

THE PRESENT…

Kara flickered back into consciousness and immediately leaned over the side of the hospital bed and vomited.

"Hey! Those were my favourite shoes!"

Kara's awareness slowly came back to her. She was in STAR Labs hospital wing, though it looked slightly different. And she had just vomited all over Cisco's shoes. Caitlin, who stood on Kara's other side, instantly began laughing. Kara groaned, falling back against the pillow.

It had just been a dream. There wasn't a girl in her loft without a mother. A mother that Kara had erased. It wasn't real. It _couldn't_ be real.

Lena grabbed Kara's head and poked a light into her eyes.

"Motor responses normal, no fever… I'd say she's fine." Kara batted her away, then, realising just who it was, she grabbed her friend and pulled her close. Lena seemed flummoxed by the action at first, but relaxed into it, wrapping her arms around Kara and patting her awkwardly on the back.

"It's okay. I'm right here."

Lena pulled away, and Kara tried to discreetly wipe away her tears. She failed.

"What's could have _ever_ made me hate you?" Kara flinched as if struck.

"Why _don't _you hate me?"

Lena looked at her as if she'd grown a second head, so Kara turned to Cisco, who was cleaning his shoes with paper towel and grumbling.

"You didn't tell her?"

Cisco looked up at her.

"Uh, no. We haven't even told Ralph. Or Joe. The only ones who _know_, are the paragons, Ray, Alex, Nia and Team Arrow. The Bats don't even know yet, and Black Lightning is the only member of his team J'onn gave new memories."

"No offence Kara," Caitlin chimed in, "but what's the point of telling everyone? We've… we've seen what happens with alternate timelines. The danger of knowing different histories. Knowing about my Earth 2 doppelgänger was a major contributing factor to the creation of Killer Frost."

"Not to mention Flashpoint," Cisco said, wincing.

"Uh, don't know what?!" Lena exclaimed, looking between the trio in utter confusion.

"The world ended," Kara whispered, locking eyes with her friend.

Lena raised an eyebrow.

"As in, what? Every other Tuesday?"

Caitlin chuckled, but Cisco just shook his head.

"As in, the apocalypse came, and everyone…" he drew a line across his neck, and Kara whacked him.

"This is what came after… Round 2, so to speak," Frost finished.

Lena swallowed.

"What does that mean?"

"It means," Kara muttered, eyes downcast, "that I have a daughter I don't remember."

Cisco facepalmed.

"Oh god… Ellie… she didn't…" Frost rounded on Cisco.

"You didn't tell her!"

Cisco backed away from Frost, who's hands were starting to freeze.

"I've got two timelines rattling around in my head, and I only have our half of the original, not Kara's! How was I supposed to know she didn't have a kid on her side! She didn't come from our world, so I assumed she must have come from Kara's! Everyone else has existed on one of the original Earths that Oliver merged!"

"Kara…what happened?" Lena asked warily, sitting down on the bed beside Kara's downcast face and taking Kara's hands in hers.

"I… I ran away. I couldn't… I hoped maybe Cisco could… I don't know… split me. Or find the version of me that's supposed to be here. Maybe I didn't kill that little girl's mother."

"Oh, Kara…" Lena pulled her into another hug as Frost bled back to Caitlin.

"Can you do it?" she asked Cisco, "bring out Kara's memories of Ellie."

Cisco scratched his head.

"I don't know… I could try."

Kara clenched her jaw and reached a hand to Cisco, who took it hesitantly. Lena rose from the bed and laid a hand on Cisco's shoulder.

"I'm coming too."

"I'm not sure that's…"

"Don't care. Do it Vibe." Cisco sighed, then closed his eyes and scrunched up his face.

"I'll monitor you from outside," Caitlin said.

For the first few seconds, nothing happened. Kara just sat there, looking around the room. Then, like a tv glitching between channels, reality began to flicker. Everything around them took on a blue tint, and STAR Labs flickered out of existence as crackling filled her ears. Kara glanced to Lena, who was mirroring Kara's own astonishment, observing with wide eyes. STAR Labs was washed away, engulfed in an enormous storm. Or… more accurately, it was several storms clashing against one another.

There was no sound save the crackling, but reality around them was a battle of wind and power. There was a blue storm, swirling around Cisco himself like a tornado, spiralling both above and below them, yellow and red lightning bolts flickering within the wall of churning clouds. Two spheres of energy – one red, one gold – flared within the tornado, dancing through the lightning. At the peak of the hurricane was a pool of white power, reflecting down on them like sunlight through water; below was a similar phenomenon but black as tar, and bubbling with what Kara could only describe as hate. Finally, a reflective blue light swirled around their bodies, clinging to them like an aura.

"CISCO!" Lena screamed, "What's happening?!"

"I'm trying to get a lock! The Speed Force is trying to lock me out!"

"Why?" Kara demanded. Cisco's eyes remained tightly closed, body trembling, his fingers trying to dig into Kara's invulnerable skin.

"I…" he trailed off, and, a second later, the storms vanished as if they'd never been, and they fell to a cement floor.

Sound returned to them in a rush. The screaming of a child.

_"Let me out of here!"_

Ellie.

Kara blinked away the dizziness that threatened to engulf her, searching out the voice without thinking. A desperate need bubbled up inside her. An aching desire to find her daughter and hold her close. It warred with something else. A dark feeling in the pit of her stomach. In her very bones. A deep, foul urging. Something she had never truly felt until that moment. But she knew it. Knew it as if she'd spent her entire life with it. A screaming rage. A desire to find the person who had taken her daughter and tear them apart. Hate.

She pulled away from Cisco, who was gasping for breath, kneeling on the floor with Lena beside him. They were in a warehouse of some sort. Tall roof, open plan floor, small high windows. In the centre of the space was an enormous machine, with wiring and antennae pointing towards the ceiling. In the centre of the device was a capsule with glass walls. And trapped inside was a little girl of no more than four or five, blonde hair tied in pigtails. Vivid purple eyes stared out of that glass at a figure in an enormous hoverchair.

_"Peace Miss Elizabeth," _the Thinker said in a slow voice, thick with an accent Kara couldn't place, _"No pain will come to you. I simply need you as a battery."_

_"Let. Me. Go."_

Ellie's eyes flared a bright purple, and the machine started to rattle, despite being bolted to the ground. The Thinker chuckled.

_"Impressive. You've come far since our last attempt at this. I should have anticipated that providing you with a more inviting environment would cause an increase in force output." _

Ellie screamed from within the glass tube, and she started floating up into the air.

The Thinker grinned.

_"Now, we can begin."_ He pressed a button on his chair, and the roof around the machine retracted. The antennae extended up into the sky, and purple electricity began to crackle along the metal. The sky above turned dark, storm clouds brewing to boil in an instant.

"What's happening?" Kara whispered, staring around in confusion. She needed to go to Ellie. Needed to help her. But the vibe held her in place. This wasn't real. It was a mirage of the past, pulled together by Cisco's powers.

"It's the night the Sage Force was born," Cisco said, Lena helping him to his feet.

"The Sage Force?"

Lena nodded.

In the vision beyond, a flash of yellow lightning signalled Barry's arrival. He skidded to a stop before the machine, a look of horror on his face.

_"Daddy!"_

_"Ellie! Are you okay!?"_

_"She's fine, Mr Allen," _the Thinker snapped, spinning around in his chair and rolling his the sky above, the clouds split apart to form an enormous vortex. Beyond was not the storm of lightning Kara had expected. Instead, it was… like an ocean of light, a vibrant violet colour, surface rippling under the breath of invisible wind.

_"Then what the hell are you trying to do? Create new Metahumans? Why?"_

_"You truly are an idiot. You and all your friends. You think creating metahumans is my goal? How… simple-minded." _He gestured with a hand back to the container, Ellie banging on the glass inside, machine rattling under the force of her power.

_"The world is stagnant Mr Allen! It is trapped in a vicious cycle of violence and hate. I intend to save the world. To make people understand that the people they hate are the same as them. Just people. Will you stand in my way?"_

_"With her power, I can do it. You have no idea what that girl is truly capable of. She is a conduit into the Multiversal consciousness itself, just as you are a conduit for time and speed."_

_"So what?" _Barry demanded, _"You torture a four-year-old girl as a tool to mind-control everyone on Earth? It doesn't matter what your end goal is DeVoe, that's evil!"_

_"You think I didn't predict that reaction? You think I would have bothered kidnaping the girl, engineering your care for her, if there had even been a ten per cent chance you would see my plan as I do? A chance to save the world."_

Barry grinned.

_"No. I don't think you would. You seem like a practical guy DeVoe. A smart guy. I think I would have liked working with you. Maybe together, we could have done something great…" _

A Breach pulsed into existence beside the machine, and the real Kara flew out, blasting twin bolts of heat-vision at the chair. They passed straight through, striking the wall on the far side of the warehouse. At the same time, a bolt of purple energy shot from the antennae up into the sky. It struck the ocean's surface, and a shockwave of violet light exploded through the cloud layer.

Mirage Kara screamed in rage as Barry ran up to the machine. The second his foot hit the metal, a shell of gold lightning enveloped the device, and he was blasted backwards as Ellie cried out in pain, grabbing her head and falling to the ground inside the glass container.

Mirage Kara tried to punch DeVoe, but her fits passed clean through the holographic image.

_"Ah. Kara Danvers. How nice of you to join us."_

_"Rao take you, DeVoe."_

Another Breach materialised on the ground, and mirage Cisco, Ralph, Alex and Frost ran out.

Kara tried to get to Ellie, but the same energy barrier appeared, blasting her backwards. The Thinker threw his hands wide, looking to the sky.

_"I planned every possible variable of this encounter. There is no way for you to defeat me. Perhaps you recognise the design Cisco?"_

Cisco, who was staring at the machine, gasped in horror.

_"The Magnetar."_

_"Precisely. It's thanks to the Speed Force Storm you unleashed on the city that I know how to do any of this. Thanks to the Speed Force I drained from the Flash in the underground lab that I can ensure you can't stop me. But instead of unstable lightning, my device will harness the power of Elizabeth's 'Sage' Force to disperse a wave of thought powered Dark Matter across the world. Power I can guide…"_

_"MY NAME IS ELLIE!"_

Ellie had risen up in her containment chamber. Her hair had bled to solid gold, floating in the air, violet eyes burning with energy. She screamed, placing her hands on the side of the machine. Then she _pushed._

DeVoe's device groaned, gears grinding, antennae rattling. Then, with an ear-shattering _'BOOM!'_,the Thinker's exploded outwards, sending a shockwave of energy through the warehouse. Only Barry was unaffected. Wrapped in golden lightning, he raced forward into the shockwave and grabbed Ellie from the centre of the debris. He pulled her free, sliding to a halt and pulling her close. The beam shooting into the sky shut off, the ocean beyond vanished, and the storm collapsed. Ralph expanded into a giant tarp to protect Cisco, Caitlin and Alex, but Mirage Kara simply ignored the flying wreckage, running to Barry and Ellie.

_"Mom! Dad!"_ Mirage Kara pulled the two of them as tight as she could as the hologram of the Thinker disappeared, and rain started to pour through the roof, soaking them all to the bone. It fell through the real Kara as if she wasn't there.

"That's… that was magnificent. I mean you told me before but… I never really… _understood,"_ Lena muttered. Cisco was standing perfectly still, fists still clenched.

Kara… All Kara could do was stare at her alternate self and her… her daughter. And her Barry.

She loved him. You could see it in the way she clung to him for dear life. How, together, they embraced that tiny girl as the gold faded from her hair, and her eyes returned to their standard blue.

"She loves him. And that's my… _our_ _daughter._" And just as she'd known hate the second she felt it, she knew the love that swelled within her watching Ellie cling to her other-self. Seeing Barry hold them both. She thought she'd understood love before. Felt it before. For Mon-El. But compared to this. The tightening of the chest, the heat that rushed through your brain. The tingles running up the spine. _Mom. _No love she'd ever felt before held a candle to the need that gripped her at that moment. The need to go to that child, _her_ child, regardless of blood or origin, and tell her everything was going to be okay. The primal urge to wrap her arms around Barry and kiss him with everything she had.

Forgetting the dream, the illusion, she tried to run to them, and Cisco called out.

He grabbed her shoulder, and the scene was swept away in a rush of blue storm clouds and yellow lightning.

"Kara!"

The storm cleared as soon as it appeared, replaced with a beach in… in Starling City. Somehow, she just _knew_ that it was Starling City.

_"A little warning next time, Barry?"_ John Diggle exclaimed, drawing Kara's eye to the water's edge. Barry and Kara stood there with Oliver and Felicity on one side, and Sara on the other. The beach was only small. Nothing compared to the sprawling sandy bays of National City. Just a tiny strip of sand between the water and a park that backed on to a road. On the other side of the road was a row of shops, including a Big Belly Burger. She… didn't she _know _this place?

_"Sorry,"_ Barry said as John hyperventilated, and Sara laughed at him. Once he regained his breath, John waved the comment away.

_"It's okay. What did you need?"_

_"You got ordained to marry your brother and Carly, didn't you?" _Felicity asked, head resting on Oliver's shoulder.

_"Yeah…"_

_"Well," _Oliver said, smiling broadly, which was so shocking an image Kara's jaw actually fell open, "_Considering we're currently going 0 for 2 when it comes to trying to get married. We figured we'd get you to do it. Right here. Right now."_

John blinked. Then he blinked again.

_"For real?"_

_"Yep," _Felicity said, popping the 'p'.

John beamed.

_"You should've just asked me in the first place."_

Oliver groaned, and Mirage Kara laughed, Barry's arm around her waist.

_"That's what I said," _Sara exclaimed, though she was smiling just as warmly.

John gestured for Oliver and Felicity to stand on either side of him, with Barry next to Oliver and Kara and Sara next to Felicity. Barry was pursing his lips, fiddling with something in his pocket while Mirage Kara, grinned at Felicity and Oliver.

_"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to… well um…" _Dig began, then stopped,_ "You know what, let's not tempt another alien invasion. Oliver Queen, do you take Felicity Smoak to be your lawfully wedded wife?"_

_"I do."_

_"Felicity Smoak, do you take Oliver Queen…"_

_"I do."_

Sara barked a laugh, doubling over, and John rolled his eyes. Mirage Kara had turned her attention back to Barry, and had noticed the conflict running across his face that real Kara had.

_"That works too, I guess. Then I now pronounce you…"_

_"Ah crap. Wait!" _Barry exclaimed, and everyone looked to him like he'd grown a second head. Then he dug in his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. Oliver swore under his breath, and Sara and Felicity both grinned like fools.

_"I was gonna do this on Christmas, but now works too. Kara Danvers, would you make me the happiest man on any Earth, and marry me?" _

Kara's throat constricted as her mirage jumped Barry, wrapping her legs around him and kissing him soundly on the lips. Sara cackled, grabbing hold of John to support herself while Oliver grumbled, and Felicity jumped with joy.

_"Yes. Always yes. Always and forever. Whatever Earth. Whatever timeline. Whatever planet. Always."_

Dig peeled himself away from Sara, shaking his head.

_"Okay then. Well. I don't really know if any of this is actually official, but you can lift mountains so who cares. By the power invested in me by some guy on the internet, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your brides."_

As mirage Kara kissed her Barry, Cisco's hand tightened on Kara's shoulder, pulling her back into the storm. The world shifted once more as tears began streaming down her cheeks.

Kara, Cisco and Lena landed in an old office building. Dozens of desks lay strewn across the open-plan room, the light hanging from the ceiling cacked in dust. But two people stood amongst the debris, fiddling with a circular device on the floor projecting what looked like a star chart onto the darkened roof.

_"Any luck on the distress signal we weaved into Crisis?"_ One of the figures asked. A woman wearing a leather jacket and jeans. She had shoulder-length blond hair, dyed with red highlights to create a sunset effect. She was typing rapidly into a white gauntlet with a touch screen built into it on her arm.

_"None._" Her companion replied. He wore a similar outfit, but his hair was a dark brown, almost black. He wasn't overly tall, nor was he particularly muscled, but his jaw was very well defined, and his shoulders broad.

_"Damn. It was worth a try,"_ the woman said, abandoning her gauntlet and turning towards the map on the roof. _"I still can't get a vibrational lock either. I don't understand it."_

_"Well, somethings happened on the outside_," the man reasoned, and the woman smacked him across the back of the head.

_"That wasn't necessary,"_ he muttered, rubbing his head.

_"Obviously something's happened, Ghost! Otherwise, we wouldn't be stuck here! The question is, what happened?"_

_"I've been with you the whole time Miracle; how could I possibly know?"_

_"I don't know. Use that nerd brain of yours and come up with a theory."_

Ghost sighed, then pulled one of the map points closer. It floated down in front of the couple, enlarging in size. It was Earth. A small tag appeared beside it labelled _Earth-33. _It wasn't a star chart at all. It was a map of the Multiverse.

_"Our powers allow us to manipulate Story,"_ he said hesitantly, _"but what happens if we're stuck on a world with no story to tell?"_

_"What do you mean?"_ Miracle asked.

Ghost ran a hand through his hair.

_"What if something's happened on our Earth that's stopped new DC Comics stories from being published. If there's no story to tell…"_

_"we can't write ourselves home,"_ Miracle finished. _"Like Groundhog Day."_

_"Exactly. A temporal feedback loop, but with narrative causality instead. No narrative, no escape."_

They fell silent until a soft laughing began to echo through the tower. The couple turned to one another, expressions of absolute terror crossing their faces.

_"Ghost? Miracle? Come out, come out wherever you are!"_

Ghost gulped.

_"He found us,"_ Miracle hissed. Ghost grabbed the device on the floor, clicking the map away. Then together, the couple ran for the nearest window and jumped through.

The scene _shattered_, and Kara, Cisco and Lena fell back into STAR Labs. Cisco immediately collapsed, blood dripping from his nose. Caitlin dropped down beside him, and Lena helped her pull him onto the gurney. Kara… she just sat frozen on the floor. Her mind was spinning. Flying through scenes and memories. Memories of Barry. Memories of Ellie. Memories of her.

She saw the Crisis on Earth X. Watched Barry drive himself to the brink trying to save her from Overgirl and Dark Oliver. She felt the crushing pain that closed around him when Reign had nearly killed her. And she remembered the agony of beating her hands bloody on the Thinker's dome, trying to get to Barry and Ellie and Central City trapped within.

She sat there unable to move, as Caitlin and Lena worked together to stabilise Cisco. Perfectly frozen, until Clark arrived and threw her over his shoulder, taking her up into the sky, and flying towards the Fortress of Solitude.


	9. Crisis on Earth-X

**CRISIS ON EARTH X: AN ARROWVERSE 2-HOUR SPECIAL EVENT**

**December 2017**

Kara stood outside Starling City Hall on tiptoes, looking over the crowd of reporters in a golden gossamer dress. Alex hadn't returned to Dig and Lyla's last night after the rehearsal dinner. Together with Barry, Kara had spent most of the night scaring all of Starling City's criminals so deep they wouldn't dare come out of their holes for at least a few weeks. More than enough time for Oliver and Felicity to get married without some gang-lord interrupting it to try and kill the mayor.

She hoped.

But Alex hadn't returned to the Diggle residence, where the duo was staying with Cisco, Caitlin and Barry. All Kara had received was a single text saying she was okay, with no answers to her replies. And Alex had yet to show up to City Hall, and she was really starting to get worried.

"I'm sure she's fine," Barry said, standing beside her, a grin plastered across his face. She hadn't she'd seen the expression _leave_ it since he woke up this morning. Sitting on his shoulders, arms folded on his head, was Ellie.

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with... S!"

Kara resisted the urge to float into the air and use her x-ray vision.

"Is it a singer?" Barry asked, pointing to the band playing on the steps a few meters away. Ellie shook her head.

"A suit?"

"Nope!"

Kara gave Barry a sideways glance. He certainly looked dashing in that streamlined black three-piece suit.

Barry frowned, looking out over the street.

"How about... a stop sign?"

"Yes! Ooo! I have another one! I spy with my little eye, something starting with A!"

While this was one of Ellie's favourite games, they had learnt early on that Barry and Kara were doomed to eternally playing the role of the guesser, as Ellie could simply pick the answer out of their thoughts otherwise.

"Oh, I know this one!" Barry said, chuckling. He pointed a few steps away, to where Mick Rory and Nate were approaching.

"An asshole!" Kara punching Barry in the arm at the same time Ellie giggled.

"Ow!"

"Language," she muttered, giving him a death glare.

"Sorry Captain America." Kara rolled her eyes as Ellie continued to laugh. Then she pointed down the other end of the street.

"No silly. It's Aunty Alex!"

Kara spun in the direction of Ellie's point and breathed a sigh of relief. Alex was indeed approaching, in the company of Sara, Maggie, Nyssa Al'Ghul and John Constantine – all of them in their formal wear.

"Where in the bloody blue blazes have you lot been!" Kara admonished, crossing her arms and scowling at them. Alex and Sara laughed, Nyssa raised an eyebrow in amusement, and Constantine scrunched his face up in confusion.

Maggie, on the other hand...

"We went into _space!_ How awesome is that! And then, and _then_, we travelled back in time to the fourteenth century!"

Kara's jaw fell open.

"You did _WHAT!"_

"Relax Kara," Sara said, waving away her fury and starting up the steps to the hall. "All we did was check the star maps to make sure there were no alien ships ready to attack, then we went back in time to stop the formation of a terrorist organisation called the Ninth Circle that was going to attack City Hall today. Simple!" With that, Sara slapped Alex on the back, then walked with Constantine into the hall.

"It was _unreal,"_ Alex said, eyes gleaming. "Fourteenth Century Italy! I ate an Italian pizza from before the Renaissance Kara, can you believe that!"

"It was so awesome," Maggie added. Then she brandished a futuristic-looking gun. "And I _finally_ got my own space-gun!"

"Unfortunately, I was _not_ allowed to kill my father whilst we were in the past. A pity," Nyssa said flatly. Kara groaned, hiding her face in her hands while Ellie applauded, and Barry rolled his eyes. Collectively, they made their way inside the building, Ellie jumping down to the floor in her cute white dress, patterned with little pink flowers. They followed the crowd of guests into the wedding hall, a large chapel, with rows of pews on the floor, and a second-tier running around the roof. Stain glass windows in the arched roof let pockets of light fall on the ground, creating a soft and peaceful atmosphere. An enormous organ dominated the far wall, in front of which stood an archway embroidered with flowers.

Oliver, Thea and Dig were already standing there, speaking with former Captain, now Deputy Mayor Quentin Lance. He would be officiating, given Oliver was the actual mayor. Alex and Nyssa split off from the group, Alex guiding Ellie to their seats, while Sara, Barry and Kara made their way down the aisle to Oliver. Most of the pews were already full. Felicity's mother, dressed in a fluorescent pink dress that looked as though it had been shrink-wrapped onto her, was balling her eyes into a supremely uncomfortable Ray Palmer's shoulder as Nate and Mick sniggered behind his back. Renee and Curtis were catching up with Evelyn Sharpe – their old teammate express from the 25th century – and Slade Wilson was having what appeared to be an in-depth conversation with Russian mobster Anatoly Kishinev. Finally, she spotted Constantine sitting in the back, studiously avoiding looking at a young woman with long black hair, wearing a black coat and... were those fishnets?

All in all, there were probably more superpowered people in this room than any in human history. The only people missing were J'onn, Clark and Hal, who were at STAR Labs and had elected to miss the celebration to deal with any potential disasters that might occur while everyone else got drunk and/or laid that night. Well, everyone except Barry, who would be doing neither of those things, as he could not get drunk, and had therefore been drafted into looking after Ellie. Sometimes, being the fastest man alive really _sucked._

They stepped up to Oliver, who nodded to them.

"You sure you're ready for this man?" Barry asked, elbowing Oliver.

"Yeah Ollie," Sara chimed in, "you could always run off on a yacht with me to escape your responsibilities again. Who knows what might happen to us this time!" Oliver and Thea winced, but Dig, Sara, Barry and Kara just laughed.

"No. I'm doing this. I don't care what happens. I will say my vows today even if I've been pin cushioned with arrows. I swear to God." Then he turned on Barry and Kara.

"But why am I the butt of the joke here? What about you two?"

"Us? What about us?" Kara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well you're bullying me, but you've already got a kid calling you Mom and Dad, and you've already been married in that dream world. When are _you_ going to tie the knot?"

Barry's face turned beat red, and Sara started chocking into her hand. Kara's heart missed a beat, and she fixed Oliver with a look just begging him to say more. He didn't even flinch; just stood there smug, hands in pockets.

"Nope. Nah uh. Not gonna happen," Thea said, wagging a finger at Barry. "You are not going to propose during Felicity's wedding. That's like, worst friend move ever. You are not going to take the attention away from her."

"What about me?" Oliver asked, adopting an angry expression.

"You, I don't care so much about."

Dig snorted.

"Five years. Five years I've spent shipping these two. You _will not_ sabotage it now Thea Dearden Queen."

Thea raised her hands in surrender, and a moment later, music began to play. Kara and Sara stepped to one side of the arch, Barry, Dig and Oliver to the other, as the assembled crowd stood up, turning towards the door.

Felicity stood there in an exquisite white mermaid dress, hair falling in ringlets over her shoulders. She stood tall, bouquet in hand, with no one beside her. Felicity Smoak needed no one to give her away. She was perfectly capable of doing that herself.

She walked down the aisle to a fanfare of music and applause. When she reached Oliver's side, the music faded, and the crowd took their seats. Kara could only smile, staring across at Barry, analysing the brilliance of his face, watching in pride as Captain Lance... _Deputy Mayor_ Lance spoke to the assembled crowd. On the balcony above, reporters and various other members of the Starling City government watched the procession.

"If anyone actually stands up now, I'm gonna shoot them, but if anyone has just cause why Oliver and Felicity should not be married, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

A few seconds of silence passed. Then a figure crashed through the roof, cracking the floor in a radius around her. Without thinking, Kara stepped in front of Oliver and Felicity as the person rose up, the reporters on the balcony above craning with their phones to get good views. The people in the pews pushed away from the intruder like a wave, but those in the front rows immediately rose at the ready. The woman stood to full height, flaring dirty blonde hair out behind her. Dressed in a streamlined black suit, outlined with red piping, with metal shoulder guards, boots and gloves, a mask with glowing red eyes obscured her face. Dead centre was Kara's crest, but the S had been bastardised into two lightning bolt-like shapes. A symbol she recognised.

"Peace is overrated."

The eyes of the woman's mask burned red, and two blasts of heat vision blasted forth, straight towards Oliver and Felicity. In the same breath, five of the ushers waiting at the sides of the room drew pistols and opened fire on the guests, and a dozen people in the reporter's gallery drew weapons of their own and began firing indiscriminately.

Well, she couldn't say they hadn't _expected_ something like this after all.

Kara met the woman's heat vision head-on as Barry flashed around the room, catching bullets as they shot free of their guns. Oliver tackled Felicity to the ground in the same moment Dig grabbed Lance, and Sara dove to the floor.

That's when the chaos really kicked in. As Barry moved amongst the people in a blur of lightning, the spectators began to scream and start running in panic. Cisco slammed his fist into the floor, and a wave of blue energy exploded through the room: an electromagnetic pulse to disable any recording devices or phones that might otherwise record them. Kara and the other woman floated up into the air, heat vision still locked on one another. Sara came out of her roll and started decking the ushers on the left; Alex was using her body to shield Ellie; Oliver's team had begun clearing out the other side of the room; Nyssa had launched herself at the upper railing and was now climbing over the balustrade onto the second level. Nate's skin turned to steel, and he jumped from one of the pews onto the enemy Kryptonian's back. He managed to deliver one solid punch to the woman's head before she threw him off, but the attack did its work. Her heat vision went array, colliding with the ceiling. Kara's did not. It slammed into the woman's chest, knocking her back to the floor.

Barry appeared, standing over the woman. He dropped two handfuls of bullets, ignoring the screams and shouts from the panicking spectators, and leaned down to grab her by the collar. A green-tipped arrow came out of nowhere, slamming into Barry's back. He jolted forward, then it exploded, sending out a green shockwave that bathed the room in light.

"Barry!"

Barry screamed in agony, instantly collapsing to the ground, body seizing, and everything else in the room faded from Kara's view. She landed beside Barry and tore the arrow from his back. It was identical to Oliver's anti-speedster arrows. The ones they'd used against the Reverse-Flash. She pulled him into her arms as his arms and legs jerked, eyes squeezed tightly closed. Green energy rippled under his skin for a few moments, before vanishing, and Barry fell still, like a puppet with its strings cut.

A fist slammed into Kara's head, and a scream tore from her throat as she was thrown across the room, Barry flying free from her grasp. She slammed through a wall, crashing to the floor as her head rang, vision swimming.

She tried to rise but staggered and fell back to the floor. Something clinked to the floor nearby, followed by an angry whinnying. Smoke filled the room, and Kara chocked as she tried to breathe in. The world spun out from under her, and she crashed to the floor. She was unconscious before she even hit the ground.

* * *

Oliver pulled Felicity behind the archway, then ripped up a floorboard and retrieved the bow and quiver he'd stashed there. Dig was doing the same, pulling out guns for himself and Lance.

Kara's voice, anguished in pain, tore through the hall, and Oliver looked up just in time to see her crash through a wall on the far side of the building, falling into a side room. The flying woman stood triumphant in the centre of the room, blonde hair framing a face obscured by a dark mask.

The wedding hall was in utter chaos. Most of the reporters had fled in terror, and Caitlin and Thea had ushered most of the guests on the main floor out a side door. Now, five people, dressed all in black and red, stood atop the balcony looking down at the remaining heroes. Cisco was trying to edge around the side of the room to something Oliver couldn't see. Sara and Alex were backing away with Ellie behind them, and Jax and Professor Stein had finally managed to fuse together and were now standing against the Kryptonian. Oliver's own team had dealt with the ushers on the left side of the room and were looking back in horror. Constantine, Mick Rory and Zatanna were also together near the back of the room. He couldn't see Nyssa.

Finally, three ropes fell through the roof, and a trio of blonde-haired women descended into the room. Each had the same bastardised version of Kara's symbol on their shoulders, but they wore no masks, and one carried a tall golden staff with a wicked hook at one end. However, one of the women drew Oliver's attention more than the others, because she had Sara's _face._

Doppelgangers. Nazi Doppelgangers from another Earth. Damn Thea for insisting he needed to have a big wedding for the reporters. He'd told her something like this was going to happen. Kara was down. Barry was down. Time to deal with this.

"Dig, get them out. Now!" Dig didn't hesitate. He pulled Lance towards the exit with the others and reached out for Felicity. After shooting Oliver a final look, pleading for him to not do anything stupid, she let Dig lead her away, meeting up with Ellie, Alex and Sara. Ellie, looking terrified, followed Felicity and Dig away, and Sara and Alex turned back to the room.

Oliver took a deep breath, then stood to full height, knocking arrow to the bowstring. He fixed his eyes on the man atop the balcony looking out at the destruction. Several people lay dead around his feet. He wore an identical mask to the woman, but a hood like Oliver's obscured his face, and a bow and quiver were slung over his back. The three men surrounding him, like the women, all wore identical black and red uniforms, but their faces... once again, belonged to Oliver's friends. Ray, Nate and... and _Tommy_.

That meant... Oliver's gaze flicked between the Kryptonian and the archer. _Oh hell._

"What do you want?!" Sara demanded, stepping up beside Oliver. Firestorm and Nazi-Supergirl stood a few metres apart in front of them, eyeing one another carefully.

"Nothing. We have what we came for," the archer called back. Then he turned to leave. What had they...? Oliver glanced to the broken wall where Kara had disappeared. White smoke was billowing out of the crack, and Constantine's trench coat and Rory's gun lay discarded on the floor.

"You're not going anywhere," Oliver said, sighting on the archer. The archer ignored him, so Oliver loosed, then raced forward.

"Don't let them leave!" He shouted, and everyone sprang into action. Firestorm started lobbing fireballs at the Kryptonian, who was at least wary of taken a direct hit. Nyssa sprang from the rafters, sword overhead, angling for the archer. Dark-Nate's skin turned to steel, and he easily deflected the weapon, while Dark-Tommy punched her in the side.

"Cisco! I need a Breach!" Oliver shouted, dodging around Nazi-Kara and Firestorm. He rolled to his feet and came face to face with the woman holding the staff. She was young, he realised. Very young. Maybe sixteen, seventeen.

She backhanded him with the staff, and a blast of golden energy sent him flying across the room, hissing in pain. Sara dove through the air, colliding with the staff-wielding woman, while Evelyn flew from the side of the room using her Legion Ring, and punched Dark-Sara in the ribs. Alex appeared then, sliding in to knock out the third blonde, the one Oliver had no knowledge of. She was young too, though older than the staff-wielding girl.

A breach formed in the air behind him and Oliver sailed through it, landing on the balcony above. He rolled to his feet and aimed his bow right between the archer's red-eyed mask.

"I'm not done with you yet."

"I decide when things are done." Oliver loosed, and the archer ducked the shot, punching Oliver in the gut. He stumbled back, and the archer tried a roundhouse kick, but Oliver ducked beneath it. In Oliver's peripheral, Nyssa sprang back into action, bent sword discarded. She wrapped her legs around Nate's neck, and threw herself off the balcony, taking the steel skinned man with her. Another breach formed, and Caitlin, hair white, ice daggers in hand, jumped out. She hurled the blades at Nazi-Ray, who deflected them with gauntlets attached to his wrists that looked similar, but different, to the ATOM Suit. Curtis followed Caitlin and hurled a T-Sphere at Dark-Tommy. Tommy drew two eskrima sticks and deflected the sphere, but it magnetised to the metal weapon, then tore free from Tommy's hand with a jerk. Then Curtis pounced on the man. Oliver couldn't let himself think about it. This was not the Tommy who'd died in his arms. This was an enemy doppelgänger, just like Black Siren. He would treat him with no restraint. Oliver kicked the archer backwards, and he grunted, drawing his own bow. Oliver parried before the man could draw, and their battle began anew.

* * *

Barry slowly blinked back to awareness. His entire body was searing with pain, like pinpricks stinging every muscle, every bone, all at once. It took all he had just to open his eyes.

Cisco stood over him, fists clenched in a protective stance. The Kryptonian woman, floating in the centre of the room, punched Firestorm in the stomach so hard they split back into two people. Sara was duelling with... _herself?_ Ray and Alex were both lying on the floor, unconscious, at the feet of a blonde-haired woman with a glowing staff, and another blonde, sans staff, was flipping rings around Renee and Nate. Doppelgängers. Had to be Doppelgängers.

Barry tried to stand, and his body spasmed again. He hissed, falling back to the floor, distracting Cisco. The one moment was all it took. A blur of yellow and red slammed into his friend, knocking Cisco aside, before forming into the shape of the Reverse-Flash. He grabbed Barry by the collar and lifted him up into the air.

"Hello, Barry. How nice to see you again." Thawne punched him in the face, and Barry saw stars. Then, Thawne ran away, carrying Barry, his whole body still burning with pain, in tow.

* * *

Oliver punched the archer square in the face, and he stumbled backwards. The mask flickered, then vanished; breaking apart like nano-tech. The man's face was Oliver's own.

"That's sick."

"You mean looking into your reflection, and seeing only weakness?" His doppelgänger snarled, and Oliver remembered that light in his eyes. The same light he'd seen in his own eyes those early years. When he'd been nothing but a monster. "I quite agree!"

The archer lunged for him, but Oliver was ready. He sidestepped, drew one of his flechettes, and rammed it through the black suit, and deep into his other's gut.

"Maybe you should pay more attention to your own weaknesses," Oliver said, kicking the archer to the ground. An eskrima stick smashed across Oliver's face, and he fell backwards. Tommy... Dark-Tommy knelt down beside Oliver's evil-counterpart, then turned on Oliver himself. And a T-sphere collided with the back of his head. Tommy's eyes rolled, and he collapsed. Dark-Ray blasted Caitlin directly in the face, and she tripped over the body of a reporter, falling to the floor. Then, he turned on Oliver and Curtis.

A force of some kind – a shockwave of pure sound – exploded the balcony beneath them. Oliver, Curtis, Ray and Dark-Oliver, as well as everyone either unconscious or dead atop the balcony level, were repulsed backwards as a wailing scream pulsed through their ears. Oliver, head ringing, knocked a grappling arrow and shot at the rafters on the other side of the room. The arrow found it's mark, and Oliver was pulled off course. He swung precariously around the room, trying to dodge pieces of debris. Several fragments grazed him, cutting through his tux, and two shards of splintered wood lodged in his back and leg, but he managed to swing clear of the explosion, and he landed on the ground floor. His Sara had taken the brunt of the blast and was now buried in the debris with Nyssa. Dark-Sara stood at the apex of the destructive wave, a sad expression on her face. The woman with the staff, who was hovering in the air above a knocked-out Cisco, was looking straight at Oliver with a maniac smile. Nazi-Kara pulled Oliver's counterpart from the wreckage of the balcony at the same time Dark-Ray burst himself free. He couldn't see Dark-Tommy, Evelyn, or the third blonde-woman.

His doppelgänger glanced towards Oliver, smirking.

"Like I said. _I_ decide when it ends." Dark-Kara pulled Dark-Oliver to her in an intimate grip, then shot up through the roof. Dark-Ray activated rockets in his boots while the girl with the staff grabbed Nazi-Sara and Nazi-Nate, and they all followed their leaders out into the sky.

The threats gone, Oliver sank to the ground, letting go of his bow, and leant back against one of the few pews that _hadn't_ been destroyed, diligently ignoring the splinter in his back.

Then he began to plan.

* * *

**Part 2**

Oliver made his fifty-second lap around the control centre of the Bunker. For two hours now, he had been suited up. He had his meta-human quiver equipped with the deadliest arrowheads he had, and his body was covered with knives, daggers and extra arrowheads. And he had NOTHING. TO. SHOOT!

Five hours had passed since the abduction of Barry, Kara, Constantine and Mick Rory, and they were still no closer to tracking their Nazi Doppelgängers. Three of those hours, Oliver had spent as mayor, cleaning up the mess of City Hall and answering questions from the press while Sara mind-whipped everyone from the wedding. Finally, he'd managed to get away, leaving Renee, Thea and Lance to handle it.

He'd arrived in the Bunker to chaos.

Cisco, Curtis and Felicity were working over video-chat with Harry Wells at STAR Labs, scouring the planet for extra-dimensional energies consistent with breaches to other Earths. Barry and his team had resealed the barriers between worlds torn open by the Singularity, but two methods of cross-dimensional travel remained. The Speed Canon in STAR Labs, which connected directly to something Wells called the 'Orrery of Worlds', and Cisco himself. Nothing had come through STAR, and Cisco obviously hadn't let them in. That left one possibility. These Nazis had another portal.

Evelyn stood at Curtis's workbench at the back of the Bunker with a metal welders mask over her head, grinding at a contraption on the desk. Occasionally she would point her Legion Ring at the device, and a beam bright white light shot out of it. Ray was standing over her shoulder in the ATOM Suit, watching and asking questions at such a rapid pace Oliver could barely make out the words, and what he did catch made no sense. Words like "Quantum Resonances, Temporal Manifolds and Investiture Seals."

Doctor Stein and Caitlin were seated at Felicity's desk, another video-chat open with Stein's daughter and a man called Max Mercury from Earth 21. They were analysing the few scraps of data STAR had collected from Barry and Kara's suits - which had been insulated from Cisco's EMP - and Curtis's T-Spheres. They were trying to figure out inconsistencies in the attack. Who was the girl with the staff, and how had it worked? Who was the enemy speedster? No one had gotten a good enough look to determine whether the figure was Barry or not. What about Nazi Ray's gauntlets? They had seemed more advanced than their Ray's ATOM Suit. And how had Sara's doppelgänger caused so much destruction?

Jax, Nate and John were left with nothing to do, and to burn away their adrenaline, they had taken to sparring on the mats in the corner. Alex was sitting on the steps with a distraught Ellie, just holding her as the girl cried.

"We have something!" Sara yelled, the elevator doors opening to reveal her, _Slade,_ and Nyssa. Sara's arm was still in a cast, and she'd received a slight concussion from the blast, but her Legion Ring had protected her from most of the destructive damage of her counterpart. Oliver stopped at lap fifty-seven, spinning towards the women. The others all froze as well, except for Evelyn, who continued her welding.

"Where have you been?" Caitlin demanded.

"Interrogating our guests," Sara said, eyes fixed on Oliver.

"With extreme prejudice," Nyssa added in her usual casual manner.

Slade stepped forward with a tablet and cast an image to one of the overhead screens.

"They both had cyanide tablets embedded in their cheekbones. You're lucky I was here kid, these two didn't think to check." He shot Nyssa a smirk, then turned back to the screen.

"Neither of them were talking, even after... enhanced interrogation. Had killer death-glares though."

Felicity shot Oliver a look, but with a single glance to Ellie, who was still crying, his guilt vanished.

"We got a match on facial recognition for the girl though," Sara said, "Her name is Stephanie Brown, and on our Earth she's a sixteen-year-old single mother from Gotham City. She's the daughter of one of Gotham's resident wackjobs, the Cluemaster, and was instrumental in sending him to prison. She's currently attending the Gotham Academy and works part-time both at a Gymnastics centre, and a coffee-shop in Gotham Heights. But get this, her attendance at the school was paid for in its entirety by _Tim Drake."_

"Tim Drake?" Alex asked, "As in teenage CEO of Wayne Enterprises Tim Drake, who took over the company after Bruce Wayne's death? _That_ Tim Drake?"

"That's the one, and here's where things get even more interesting." Sara gestured with her thumb to Nyssa.

"Timothy Drake was a member of the League of Assassins." Oliver resisted the urge to bash his head into a computer, and just stared at Nyssa in consternation.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" John muttered, coming to stand beside Oliver.

"He was not a member for long. As it turned out, Drake had deliberately arranged to be picked up by the League on the orders of Batman."

"Batman's a myth," Oliver said.

Deathstroke scoffed. "Kid, when he lodges one of those fucking batarangs in your neck, you can call him a myth."

"You've met the _Batman?"_ Cisco breathed, eyes going wide.

"Not now!" Oliver snapped. "How does this help us?"

"Well, the gymnastics, combined with the League of Assassins and whatever training this Batman has given her, explains the skill her double demonstrated at the hall," Sara said. "As for Tommy... well I imagine he was probably recruited to this Nazi cult the same time alternate you and Ray were."

Oliver swallowed.

"Yeah... About that. I don't think it's a cult," Harry said through the video-chat. All eyes turned towards him.

"There are stories of an Earth in the Orrery that was so horrible it was stricken from the Multiversity records. And you have to remember, the Injustice Earth is still on that list, so that puts things in perspective."

Caitlin turned towards Wells screen with a frown.

"But surely somewhere that bad would have fallen into the Dark Multiverse by now?"

Wells shook his head. "The Dark Multiverse is a plain born of fears. Worlds that fall down there are _unstable_, not bad."

"Out with it Wells," Jax said, folding his arms, "Where are our friends?"

Wells sighed. "I think they're on Earth X. A world where the Nazis won World War II, and exterminated three-quarters of the Earth's population; that's over 1. 5 billion people."

Felicity shrank into her chair, and Oliver moved to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Nazi World. Why did it have to be _Nazi_ World?" She whispered. Everyone stood in silence, just digesting that disturbing information.

"Ray, get your ass back, or your head's going to be fried!" Evelyn shouted, interrupting the sombre mood.

"You can't do that! If you touch those right now, the whole thing will explode!"

"It will not!" She stated, glaring at him. "I've lived in the future for seventeen years now Raymond Palmer! Did it not occur to you that I might actually know what I was doing?"

"Living in the future doesn't change the fundamental tenants of science!" Ray exclaimed.

"Sure it does. After all, you still think Special Relativity accurately describes the interaction between space and time!" Cisco made a mewling sound in the back of his throat; Ray looked like Evelyn just killed his cat. Huffing in satisfaction, Evelyn grabbed two round coils on the sides of her machine... which kind of looked like a helmet now that he thought about it, and clipped them together.

There was no explosion. Instead, the headset made a soft crackling sound, then began to radiate a soft violet energy. Evelyn turned on Ray, flashing him a smug grin at the same time Ellie jerked upright, gasping. Her eyes swivelled around the room, before fixing on Evelyn and the helmet in her hands.

"Wow..." she whispered, swaying slightly. Evelyn grinned.

"Um, Ev, what is that?" Curtis asked hesitantly.

"It's something E..." Sara shot her a look that could kill. "...Imra, uses in the future to amplify her telepathy. I had to use up most of the Investiture in my ring to make it work though. I'll need to visit Roshar to reinvest it." She shivered visibly. "It's called a Causal Network, and it allows the wearer to tap into the Sage Force and access the Multiversal Consciousness."

"I didn't understand a word of that," Nate said.

"It's a helmet that will amplify Ellie's powers," Curtis translated, staring at the device in awe, "Which she can use to find the Earth Xers."

"I... I can _hear_ it," Ellie muttered. She slid off Alex's lap and padded towards Evelyn in a trance-like state. Oliver immediately moved to her side, holding her hand as she hopped down the stairs.

"Can someone else use it?" Oliver asked, gaze shifting between Ellie - whose eyes had turned solid purple, hair glowing gold - and the shimmering helmet.

"Theoretically? Yes. But you wouldn't know what to do. It'd be like throwing you into the Speed Force with no superspeed and expecting you to know where you were going."

Oliver swallowed. Alex came up beside them and took the helmet from Evelyn hesitantly. Oliver knelt beside Ellie, but she didn't seem aware of him anymore. She was focussed on the device. The metal implements on Evelyn's table began to rattle, and Ellie floated up off the ground, reaching out for the headset. Alex and Oliver locked eyes, and both could tell the other didn't like this in the slightest. But they didn't have any better ideas, so Alex placed the device on Ellie's head.

It sat like a crown, and as it touched the girl's head, it burst alight, refracting all colours of the rainbow. Ellie's whole body was enveloped in a violet aura, and her eyes began emitting light.

"Ellie? Are you okay?"

Ellie nodded.

"I... I'm okay, Auntie Alex." The voice that spoke was still Ellie's, but it was older, more feminine and less childlike. But that wasn't the creepy part. That was most definitely the fact that the words didn't move at the same time as her lips. It was like an online video that hadn't buffered correctly.

"What... what can you hear?" Alex asked hesitantly. Oliver squeezed Ellie's hand once more.

"Voices. So many voices. And they all make a pattern Auntie Alex..." she trailed off, narrowing her eyes.

"An eternal story, repeating over and over."

"Ellie... do you know where your Mum and Dad are?" Oliver suggested.

"Far, far away," Ellie answered robotically, "The Hidden Earth."

"How can we get to them?"

Ellie pointed to Cisco and blinked. He gasped, falling to his knees, Caitlin beside him. A halo of violet light formed around his head, then vanished. He sucked in a sharp breath, then nodded.

"I've got it."

Ellie turned towards Oliver and looked him the eye, and Oliver had the chilling realisation that it wasn't Ellie staring back at him.

"Time is not your ally tonight. The Destroyer stirs. The pattern needs Kara Danvers and Barry Allen alive. If you fail... you will doom more than just your friends."

Ellie blinked once more, and the aura surrounding her faded away. She fell from the air, and Oliver caught her in his arms, pulling the helmet free. She closed her eyes and tucked into the crook of his arm, then fell asleep. Everyone was deathly silent for a good long while until Dig muttered under his breath.

"I think I'm going to go find a bible."

"A bible won't help you," a new voice said, "Not against It. We have to find Kara, Barry and John. Now." A figure stepped out of the shadows wearing a black and white magicians coat and black fishnets.

"Zatanna? What is... It?" Felicity whispered, teeth chattering.

"Pray, you never find out."

* * *

**Part 3**

_"Talk, let's have conversations in the dark. World is sleeping, I'm awake with you."_ Kara hung from her wrists, bound by thick adamantium metal chains to the roof of a cell bathed in red light. Red _sunlight_. These Nazis knew what they were doing. She still wore the dress from the wedding, though now it was torn and caked in dust and grime.

_"Watch, movies that we've both already seen. I ain't even looking at the screen. It's true, I got my eyes on you,"_ Barry sang back. She couldn't see him. Not from her current position. He was in a cell opposite hers, cold metal bars between them. He'd tried to phase through them the second he woke up, but had been repulsed Thawne's red lightning, which had somehow been put _into_ the bars themselves.

"_And you say that you're not worth it,"_ they chorused together, _"You get hung up on your flaws. Well, in my eyes, you are perfect as you are."_

They didn't know how long they'd been in the dark, or how long they'd been unconscious. But they'd sung-through about ten John Legend songs by this point.

_"I won't ever try to change you, change you_

_I will always want the same you, same you_

_Swear on everything I pray to_

_That I won't break your heart."_

"Will you two please _shut up!_" Rory barked, slamming a fist against his cell a distance away. "Never thought I'd actually miss solitary confinement."

_"I'll be there when you get lonely, lonely_

_Keep the secrets that you told me, told me_

_And your love is all you owe me_

_And I won't break your heart."_

"Oh, let them sing," Constantine shot back, "It's better than silence."

"I beg to differ," Mick grumbled.

"Would you prefer something of a different genre, Mister Rory?" Kara asked, smiling despite the ache in her arms.

"How 'bout a bit a country, Kara?" Barry said, attempting an awful Texan accent.

_"Right outside of this one church town,"_ Kara began, swaying as best she could while hanging from the roof. _"There's a gold dirt road to a whole lot of nothin'. Got a deed to the land, but it ain't my ground. This is God's Country."_

_"We pray for rain, and thank Him when it's fallen,"_ Barry continued, _"'Cause it brings the grain and a little bit of money. We put it back in the plate, I guess that's why they call it God's Country..."_

Mick groaned, "That's even worse."

_"I saw the light in a sunrise_

_Sittin' back in a 40 on the muddy riverside_

_Gettin' baptised in holy water and 'shine with the dogs runnin'_

_Saved by the sound of the been found_

_Dixie whistled in the wind, that'll get you Heaven bound_

_The Devil went down to Georgia, but he didn't stick around_

_This is God's Country."_

"Please anything else..." Mick begged, and Constantine just laughed.

_"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for,"_ Barry exclaimed, and Kara burst out laughing. _"Been searchin' in the dark, your sweat soakin' through the floor."_

_"And buried in your bones there's an ache that you can't ignore. Takin' your breath, stealin' your mind And all that was real is left behind..."_

_"Don't fight it, it's comin' for you, runnin' at ya_

_It's only this moment, don't care what comes after_

_It's blindin', outshinin' anything that you know_

_Just surrender 'cause you're callin' and you wanna go..."_

#

_"Where it's covered in all the coloured lights,_

_Where the runaways are runnin' the night,_

_Impossible comes true, it's takin' over you_

_Oh, this is the greatest show!_

_We light it up, we won't come down_

_And the walls can't stop us now!_

_I'm watchin' it come true, it's takin' over you_

_Oh, this is the greatest show!"_

A slow clapping filled the room as they finished, and Oliver appeared through a door hidden in the half-light.

"Bravo, bravo."

"Oliver!" Barry exclaimed, "About time."

Another person appeared, stepping into the room behind Oliver... and she wore Kara's face.

"Sorry, Mr Allen, but I'm afraid you'll have to keep waiting."

"Great," Barry muttered, "Breachers."

"What do you want with us?!" Kara snapped, straining against the chains.

Not-Oliver laughed.

"Who said we wanted any of you?" Kara's doppelgänger asked, placing her head up against the bars of Kara's cell. She tried to look threatening but was distracted by her doubles make-up. It was, quite simply, brilliant. Seriously, that smoky eye was to _die for_, and those lips.

"Who does your make-up? Cause I'm kinda jealous," she found herself saying, then grimaced internally.

"You like? One of my pets has quite the talent," Nazi-Kara smirked as she shivered. Pet? How screwed up was this world?

"Overgirl," Dark-Oliver said, a hint of amusement tinting his voice.

"Yes, my Fuhrer?" Overgirl asked sweetly, turning around and batting her eyes at him.

"Stop flirting."

"Yes, sir."

"If you're going to torture us, can you just bloody get on with it?" Constantine asked, drawing the attention of the couple.

"If torture is what you want..." Oliver drew, sighted and shot in a second, and an arrow slammed into Constantine's gut. He hissed, and a thump echoed through the red-dark as he collapsed to the ground.

"Leave him alone," Barry said, stepping up to the cell door, eyes narrowed.

"Or what?" Dark-Oliver asked, raising an eyebrow, "What will you do to me?"

"You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"Nothing much at the moment. So, I think I'll do whatever I want."

"That's where you're wrong."

Oliver threw his arms out, making a beckoning motion with his hands. "Smite me then 'Flash'. Strike me down."

Barry snorted. "Nice try Vader."

Overgirl frowned, then leaned up next to Kara's cell.

"What's a Vader?" Kara just shook her head.

"It's from a movie."

"Ah."

Oliver either didn't hear the exchange or ignored it, because he was still focussed on Barry.

"You needn't worry for your skin, Mr Allen. We have no need for it. You're merely here as payment."

"What did Thawne bribe you with?" Barry asked, folding his arms. "Actually, I don't care. But here's a lesson. Thawne doesn't care about your plan. He'll screw you over, and you'll never see him coming."

"We've already filled our end of the bargain," Oliver said, "Who do you think built this cell? And, for the record, I think you're going to care a great deal." He nodded to Overgirl, and she opened Kara's cell. She stepped inside, then, still smiling, punched her in the gut.

Kara wheezed, breath escaping her in a rush. Barry grabbed the cell bars and was shocked by the red lightning. Her invulnerable body absorbed most of the impact, but she'd be lying if she said it hadn't hurt. It would take longer for the red-sunlight to flush all the yellow from her system.

"Still cooking," Evil Kara said, moving back outside the cell doors and closing them behind her.

"We'll have to keep waiting then," Oliver said. He turned towards the door and walked away, Overgirl following silently behind like a well-trained lap-dog.

Once the door closed, Kara called out to Constantine.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," he muttered, "stings like a bitch, but I've had worse, and I don't think my souls heading for Hell just yet."

"Can't you just magic it?" Mick asked.

"No. There's... there's just nothing. It's like one of my senses has gone completely dull. It's not a block. Those I've dealt with before. I can't even feel the Source anymore."

"That's... not good," Kara said, not really understanding the words but getting the context. Barry had seemingly ignored them. He was repeatedly reaching his hand out towards the cell bars, yellow lightning crackling around it. As he drew close, the red lightning would spring to life, and Barry's lightning would shrink back from it.

"Hmmm..."

"Barry? Do you have an idea?" She asked, hopefully.

"Maybe." He said no more.

* * *

**Authors Notes**

On Magic:

Most of you probably don't read DC Comics, and if you do, you probably haven't read Hellblazer or Justice League Dark. Legends of Tomorrow hasn't really bothered explaining how Constantine's magic works. It does what the plot needs it to do, and nothing really more or less.

So here is an explanation for those of you who are curious.

Magic in the DCU comes from 'the Source', which is the cosmic firmament from which all of DC's god characters draw their power (including Darkseid, though in some stories he also has the Anti-Life Equation). The manipulation of magic, then, is the ability to tap into that energy - the source code of reality - to make things happen. This is part of the reason Zatanna has to speak her spells backwards. She's like a magical nuclear reactor, and if she spoke her spells normally, they would be seriously overpowered, so much so that doing so instantly draws the attention of things best left in the Dark.

It's similar to the magic depicted in the Doctor Strange movie, but it maintains its mystical origin more.

Constantine - who in most incarnations is a specialist in the 'dark arts' - pulls most of his power from Hell, but augments it with magical artefacts to lessen his reliance on demonic magic. This is why he favours fire spells over other elements - it's easier for him.

If you've read Gemini Curse or Shards of Heaven, you'll recognise this concept there as well. We explained the origins of magic in-depth in Gemini, and though it was called something different in Shards, the 'Spiritual Realm' basically equates to the Source. As all our stories take place in the same Multiverse, keeping the rules of magic the same between them is rather important to us.

Likewise, you might have noticed the Sage Force. This Force is from the more recent Flash books and spawns from the destruction of the Source Wall in _Dark Nights: Metal_. We repurposed this force for Ellie, explaining it in far more depth than Josh Williamson does, and have linked it to the Seven Enigma Forces in Gemini Curse.

* * *

**Part 4**

Oliver had to blink several times as he stepped out of Cisco's Breach. Cisco creating a magic swirly blue portal with his fist; he could deal with that. He'd been living in a world of metahumans and aliens for several years now. Doppelgängers? Two years ago? No way. However, he'd dealt with Black Siren since then. With Harry Wells. He'd been to the future and fought on the ground during two alien incursions. He could handle alternate universe duplicates now. But travelling through the breach... glimpsing all those other worlds, then stepping out under a black sky... that took the cake.

They were in an abandoned courtyard of black stone, skyscrapers with dark tinted windows on three sides of the square. All had enormous red and black Nazi flags hanging upon them. On the fourth side of the square was a large park, with a garish gunmetal grey square structure, which looked to be built entirely from metal in the centre. A high statue stood in the centre of the square - a statue of Adolf Hitler.

"That's just sick on so many levels," Clark muttered, stepping out beside Oliver, cape billowing behind him.

"I thought the coordinates were in America?" Dig asked, voice shaky.

Cisco stepped out of the breach in his red and gold suit, glasses locked over his eyes.

"We are. This is Central City, Earth X, capital of the New American Empire."

"Capital?" Stein whispered.

"Most of the Eastern Seaboard is uninhabitable."

That shut everyone up really quickly.

Oliver, Sara and Dig secured the courtyard as the others arrived. Zatanna was the last, eyes flitting around the square in horror. After deciding there were no traps and disabling all the security cameras, Oliver returned to the assembled group of heroes.

"I've set up a Multiversal locator beacon," Cisco said, "If we aren't out in six hours, Wally will come in with the whole Flash Family." He shivered.

"Hopefully it won't come to that."

"The Source is weak here," Zatanna said, "probably because of how this world was sealed away. Mr Ramone's beacon is helping, but my most powerful spells are currently out of reach."

"Call it Arrow," Sara said, nodding to Oliver. She wore her new suit - white, with no mask. A black canary sigil was stitched onto a patch on her shoulder.

Oliver looked towards the square building, then back at the assembly of heroes. Black Canary, Steel, Firestorm, Artemis, ATOM, Vibe, Spartan, Alex Danvers, Nyssa Al Ghul, Zatanna and Superman.

"Alright. Here's the play. Evelyn, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out reinforcements and doppelgängers. Firestorm, you've got the perimeter. You're the first line of offence once alarms start blaring."

Jax straightened, performing a mock salute.

"Sir, yes, sir." Stein rolled his eyes, then clasped hands with Jax, and they fused into Firestorm.

"Care to give me a lift?" Artemis asked with a smirk.

"Better hold on Legolas," Jax said, winking back at her. Then he wrapped an arm around her waist and shot up into the sky.

"Canary, Vibe, Steel, ATOM, Zatanna; you've got to take down those doppelgängers. Show them what it means to be a superhero."

"Dig, Nyssa, Alex, we're going to infiltrate the compound."

"What about me?" Clark asked, eyeing Oliver with a respectful look.

"Tear this place apart."

Superman grinned, then shot up into the sky. He sighted on the square building, then blasted it with his heat vision. The front doors immediately exploded, and a few seconds later, Nazi soldiers began pouring out. Cisco created a breach, then jumped through it while Ray took to the sky and Sara ran off with Nate and Zatanna. Oliver unslung his bow, then began to make his way towards the prison beyond.

* * *

The ground trembled as a muted _'BOOM!'_ echoed through the prison. Barry's gaze shot up to the ceiling, as particles of dust started raining around him.

"What was that?" Mick muttered from the cell next to him, though Barry still couldn't see him in the red-half light.

"Oliver and the others," Kara said, her voice betraying her excitement.

Constantine groaned in the dark.

"The Source is back. Barely, but it's back."

Barry pulled himself upright and approached the cell door once more. He raised his hand, vibrating it just enough to generate electricity, and moved it against the bars. Thawne's red lightning rippled to life, and Barry's power continued to shy away.

"Can you get us out of here?"

"I think so. Give me a moment."

He began muttering to himself, chanting in a language Barry didn't understand. Another explosion rocked the room, followed by a soft clicking sound. The screeching of rusted hinges replaced it, then Constantine himself appeared, using the doors to Kara's cell to support him. Nazi-Oliver's arrow was still sticking out of his gut. He grabbed the shaft, then yanked it free, cursing liberally as he did so. Then he began twisting his fingers over the wound, and it started knitting back together. After a few seconds, he looked good as new, and he released a long sigh of relief.

"Much better. Now, let's see what we can do with this..." He moved to place his hands against Kara's cell door, but before he could so much as reach out, a yellow blur grabbed him and threw his body back into his cell. He hit the wall hard, crying out in pain, and Thawne slammed the door shut again.

"Eobard!" Barry snapped, "Why are you doing this? Why work with Nazi Doppelgängers? That's not your style." Thawne turned towards Barry and pulled back his cowl.

"Barry Allen. We meet again. I can never remember, is this before or after you betrayed me and left me locked up in a cell for sixty years!"

"You deserved every second of it and more," Barry snapped, "What do you want?!"

"You. Dead at my feet!"

Barry threw his hands up. "Why not just kill me then? Why work for these people?"

Thawne grimaced.

"You didn't exactly leave me with much of an option. The Black Racer is chasing me across the Multiverse, and I can't strike at you directly. Not with your shield in place. I had to circumnavigate it, come through a Breach instead of the Speed-Force. So I needed someone to build me one. These Nazi idiots were more than happy to build a bridge once I showed them there was more than just one Earth. You see, they have a problem that you have the means to fix." He glanced at Kara with a sadistic grin.

Barry narrowed his eyes at Thawne, dancing from his face, to the bars, then back again.

"What did you do?" He asked suddenly, and Thawne frowned at him.

"Do what?"

"To your lightning. It was gold when I met you for the first time. Now it's red." Thawne's frown vanished. Replaced with a maniacal smirk.

"Maybe you'll figure it out one day Flash. It's just one of the many things I've done better than you." He turned around and bowed his head to Kara.

_"Supergirl." _Then he vanished.

"Constantine, are you okay?!" Kara immediately exclaimed. He didn't answer, so turned to Barry.

"Now would be a good time for your idea."

Barry stepped back from the cell wall and grit his teeth.

"We always thought my powers and Thawne's came from the same place," he said, "But if that were true, why do they act as if they're polarised?"

"Barry..."

"The answer is simple. I just didn't have the pieces I needed to realise it before. Thawne is connected to a different Force. Like Ellie is. A Negative Speed-Force. Which means, to get out, I have to do what Thawne did to put me in here. In reverse."

He began to vibrate his whole body. Faster and faster and faster, until his very clothes burned away. Lightning danced around his body, cracking out and colliding with the cell bars. One he was moving as fast as he could, he stood back as close to the wall as he could. Electricity flared across his eyes, and he bolted forward.

Two steps.

That was how large the cell was. Two steps. But that was all he needed. On the second step, he phased, and for a brief microsecond, the world evaporated. A storm of swirling blue, gold lightning churning amongst the clouds. Then he was on the other side of the bars.

He crashed into Kara's cell door at supersonic speeds, and without his speed-force aura, there would have been nothing left of him to find. As it was, he melted the door, and just missed Kara's hanging form. Instead, he hit the wall, leaving a five-metre deep imprint in the stone.

"Ow."

* * *

Kara continued to hang in the cell, desperately trying to swivel far enough to see Barry. He'd crashed into the wall and hadn't said anything or moved since. And she was still hanging from the ceiling.

The door to the cellblock was forced open with a crash, and Oliver burst in, this time in his proper green, with Alex, Dig and Nyssa behind him.

"Kara!" Alex exclaimed, rushing over to her as Dig began unlocking Mick's cell.

"Constantine's been hurt. Bad. Barry's... I don't know. Where's Ellie?"

"With Caitlin and Felicity on Earth-Prime," Alex said. She looked past Kara and into the Barry shaped hole in the wall.

"That looks like it hurt. Oliver..." Oliver moved into the cell beside Alex and slung his bow, then moved to help her pull Barry out of the wall. Finally, Kara could actually see him. He looked okay, thank Rao. Just unconscious.

"Constantine is badly wounded," Nyssa announced, stepping into the light with the magician slung over her shoulders. Mick and Dig approached behind them, and Dig handed Mick's gun back to him.

"Get Kara down, and Cisco can breach us home," Oliver said.

"No! We can't go yet. The Nazis have their own Breach portal. You have to destroy it," Kara said as Dig grabbed the chains binding her wrists and started trying the keys.

"Damn," Oliver muttered, before lifting hand to ear.

"Superman, there's a Nazi portal in play. Can you find it?"

She assumed Clark had answered in the affirmative because Oliver didn't say anything more.

As soon as Barry was free, his eyes snapped open in alarm. Oliver instantly swung his bow towards the door, but he was far too slow, and in a blur of red lightning, Barry was gone.

"Move!" Oliver shouted. Dig got Kara's cuffs open, and she dropped to the ground with a relieved sigh.

"Your powers?" Oliver asked as he beckoned everyone towards the door.

"Gone. Red Sunlight. But they should come back quickly enough once I'm back in the sun."

Leaning on Alex for support, Kara followed Oliver as he led the way from the cell block. Nyssa followed him with Constantine, and Mick and Dig brought up the rear. They passed several guards rooms filled with Nazis, though Kara wasn't sure if they were unconscious or dead, and stalked down numerous hallways. It was only when they reached what appeared to be a break room - with several black leather couches, coffee tables and even a fridge - two elevator doors in the wall beyond, that they met their first resistance.

Nazi-Sara stood there in a long black cape with red piping. Two batons were strapped to her legs, but she hadn't drawn them yet.

"Stand down, Sara," Oliver said, an arrow pointed directly at the woman's heart.

Sara's eyes glanced towards a camera in the corner of the room. A camera with an arrow in it.

"The portal room is in the centre of the building, but She won't let you leave."

Oliver lowered his bow.

"What's her name?" He asked softly.

Sara's lips quirked slightly into a sad smile, and her gaze shifted to Nyssa before returning to Oliver.

"We aren't all bad people. Take me with you. Please."

Oliver wasted no time. He simply nodded, then stalked over to the elevator, pressed the open button, then got on the coms to Clark.

* * *

Clark crashed through the roof in the centre of the Nazi compound and immediately swept the space with his heat-vision. This took out most of the Nazi soldiers and made way for Firestorm and Vibe to land beside him.

The Nazi portal, like most of their architecture Clark was coming to realise, was enormous and ugly. A great diamond-shaped platform with massive towers on each corner, raised up from the ground on four legs. The colours were, again he sensed a pattern, red and black, with a bit of silver thrown in to spice things up.

"That's a speed-canon alright," Cisco muttered.

"Can you destroy it?"

"Easily. It's pretty primitive. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"YOU!" A feminine voice screamed, and Clark took a moment to realise that it was Kara's voice at all. But sure enough, standing atop the high platform was a doppelgänger of his cousin, dressed all in black, Nazi sigil on her chest.

"Kara. Listen to me! We can help you!"

"Oh, you'll help me, Kal. Whether you want to or not."

An elevator door slid open behind them, and Oliver, Dig and Mick stepped out, Alex supporting his Kara behind them.

Overgirl pointed at Kara and snarled.

"I don't care for you or your pathetic universe. Leave my other, and I will let you return to your world."

"Over our dead bodies," Firestorm said, floating up in the air, head smouldering.

"That can be arranged." Overgirl shot forward, but Clark was ready for her. He caught her and body-slammed her into the ground. He lifted his fist to punch her, but she kicked him backwards, and they began to chase one another across the room.

* * *

Barry kicked himself free of Thawne's grip, rolling to a stop in a black stone courtyard outside the Nazi complex. Thawne skid to a halt beside him, grinning.

"Thanks for the help Flash." Barry froze, the puzzle resolving instantly. He had done it again.

"I showed you how to get past the Speed-Force barrier I put up," he whispered.

"See you in the past, Flash!" Thawne flashed away into a swirling blue portal, red lightning sparking around it. Barry let him go. He was too tired right now, and his past self would deal with Thawne. If he was right, Thawne was about to appear on the night of December 2015, in the middle of Catco Plaza.

"Barry!" Sara yelled, running up and kneeling beside him. Barry looked up, finally taking in the battle raging around him. Zatanna was duelling with the staff-wielding woman while Ray flew overhead blasting Nazi soldiers. Even as he watched, Nate sucker-punched his steel-skinned doppelgänger, knocking him backwards. An arrow shot out of the air, slamming into Nazi-Nate's back, then exploded. His body was instantly covered in ice, and he fell to the ground, losing his steel shape. Nate kicked him in the head once more for good measure, then turned towards Sara and gave her a thumbs up.

"Where's their Flash gone?"

"It's not their Flash. It's Thawne."

"Thawne? I thought we erased him from existence?" Sara demanded.

"You did. We both did. But he's back. Again. I think he's being protected by his Negative Speed-Force," Barry guessed, though he knew in his gut that he was right.

"Fucking hell."

Barry grunted. "Tell me about it."

Zatanna cried out a spell, and great chains broke from the stone and wrapped around the girl with the staff. She dropped the weapon as they squeezed her, and Zatanna drew a short wand from her sleeve. She pointed it at the staff and yelled once more.

"Yortsed!"

"No!" The girl screamed, and the staff flew into the air towards her. A bolt of black energy shot from Zatanna's wand and collided with the staff. The weapon froze in the air, then turned pitch black, and fell to the ground, lifeless. The girl shrieked in agony, a raw and horrific cry of utter pain, then fell limp in Zatanna's chains. And in that second, Barry realised just how young she was. No older than sixteen.

_"Portal's hot!"_ Cisco announced over the coms. _"Let's scram everyone!"_ Zatanna, looking mortified, stepped up to the girl and placed a hand at her neck. Then she pulled it back, shaking uncontrollably.

"Get that staff," Barry told Sara, and she nodded, before running towards Zatanna and the girl. Barry glanced to Evelyn's rooftop just in time to see her jump off the roof. She shot an arrow across the gap, then swung down to the ground. Barry took a long breath, then locked his gaze on the hole in the roof. It was time to get Kara and go back home.

* * *

Kara's respect for non-powered heroes was going through the roof.

Clark was duelling with Kara's Earth X counterpart. They had put numerous holes in walls and the roof, heat-vision had gauged whole swaths in the ground, and pieces of the ceiling had been used as both shields and boulders. Firestorm was flying across the room, hurling balls of fire at the Nazi soldiers that kept pouring into the room in waves. Cisco had used his vibe blasts and breaches to clear the control room overlooking the Breach Platform, and was now hacking the system while simultaneously holding his own against the soldiers that kept trying to sneak upon him.

They were like gods battling in the skies.

Usually, she was up there with them. But right now, she was trapped on the ground with Dig, Oliver and Mick as they tried to hold the portal platform itself. Kara had taken one of the fallen Nazi guns, and thanks to Oliver's training, she could fire it and hit people more often than not. She also had the mind to keep to cover when she could, and not to expose herself or risk the others. But in their group of four, she was by far the weakest link.

Mick held one staircase, setting everyone that dared approach him on fire as he laughed. Dig and Alex held another, using one of the towers as cover from which to shoot. Oliver... he held the other two, arrows flying from his bowstring faster than the eye could follow. She'd never realised just how quickly Oliver could load and shoot before. She'd never seen it with unaided eyes. Now, she understood why people were terrified of the Emerald Archer. He knew precisely which arrow to choose from his quiver for maximum damage with each shot, and where to place it for the best chance at killing or maiming his target. All Kara could do was shoot the ones they missed, which weren't very many at all. She felt... well, she felt useless actually.

_"Vibe to Arrow, I have control of the portal, but the main power has been switched off. The terminal should be down there somewhere, but I can't risk leaving here to get to it. If one of these Nazi douches takes the system back before everyone's through..."_

"I see it. Grey says he can activate it," Jax said.

"Do it!" Oliver barked, shooting a Nazi with an exploding arrow. His quiver was starting to run low.

"Yes, sir."

Firestorm broke away from the entrance he was holding and flew across the room towards a large terminal below the balcony. The pair split back into Jax and Stein, and Jax grabbed a Nazi gun from the ground and covered Stien as he worked.

An armoured car rolled in through the door Firestorm had been holding and opened fire on the portal platform. Everyone dove for cover. Dig and Alex behind their tower, Oliver grappled the roof and pulled himself up, and Kara jumped off the side. She hit the concrete ground on her shoulder, and it cracked under the force. Then Mick was grabbing her and pulling her underneath the platform.

"You alright Skirt?" He grumbled as the car drove past, bullets filling the air.

"My shoulder's dislocated, but yeah," she said through gritted teeth. He grunted, then grabbed her shoulder and popped it back into place. She screamed at the shock of pain that flared in her body, but it faded quickly, and she bit the inside of her cheek to repress further noise.

"Good as new," Mick said, looking out from under the platform. Kara, trying to ignore the throbbing in her shoulder, followed his gaze to Jax and Professor Stein.

"Oh Holy Rao," she breathed. Jax was trying to pull an unresponsive Stein behind the consoles as bullets hailed across the room.

The platform above them began to rumble, then, in the space between the four towers, a giant breach burst into existence. Only... it wasn't like one of Cisco's breaches. This one was a foul red colour, and black energy was bleeding off it instead of silver.

_"Portal's hot! Let's scram everyone!"_

"Grey's been hit, and I'm pinned down!" Jax called out frantically. Overgirl's scream cut him off. She plummeted from the sky, crashing into the armoured car and demolishing it. Superman landed beside the wreckage as two more armoured cars, and a tank rolled in. Oliver's Nazi Doppelgänger stood atop one, bow and arrow in hand.

"STOP THEM!"

Clark ignored the bullets bouncing off him and instead moved on Overgirl. Then he stopped. For Kara's Nazi-self was not rising. Instead, she was coughing up blood. Black blood.

Evelyn dropped through one of the holes in the roof on a cable. She landed atop the platform and shot an arrow at Evil-Oliver's car. The shaft detonated, releasing a shockwave of energy that _flattened_ the vehicle. Oliver jumped free at the last moment, rolling to his feet, then bolting towards Jax and Stein. He didn't make it very far. A streak of gold and red slammed into Dark-Arrow's chest, sending him flying one way, and his bow another.

The door they'd entered through burst open, and Zatanna raced inside with Constantine, Nazi-Sara and Nyssa. Constantine was holding his chest and struggling to walk, but he was awake and back on his feet at least.

"We have to leave! Now!"

The earth began to rumble beneath their feet, trembling as if in anticipation of some great and terrible horror. A crack splintered across the concrete floor.

Nazi-Sara pushed in front of Zatanna, turned towards the tank, and Screamed. A wall of sound exploded from her lips, blasting the tank, and everyone in it, into oblivion. The echo was so powerful that Kara was knocked from her feet, despite being in almost the complete opposite direction from the blast. Barry skidded to a stop beside her, catching and pulling her close. Then she was kissing him, and for one brief moment, everything was alright.

They separated, and Kara refocussed on the crumbling world.

Oliver dropped from the ceiling beside Jax and Stein, just in time for Jax to get Stein to recombine into Firestorm.

"Go!" Oliver shouted, "get him to Caitlin!" Jax nodded, then shot into the air and flew into the breach.

Then, entirely without warning, the roof of the building _evaporated_. It transformed into black steam, which then vanished entirely. The sky beyond had turned completely red. Ray flew down into the room with Nate grasped firmly in his hand.

"Guys! The world's falling apart!" He yelled, dropping to the ground. Nate immediately took Constantine from Nyssa, then moved with her and the other Sara towards the breach, the others rushing behind.

"Come on." Barry grabbed Kara by one hand and Mick by the other then pulled them out from under the platform, and up towards the foul coloured breach. Alex and Dig ran out from behind, looking at the portal in confusion.

"Is it supposed to be doing that?" Alex asked.

"No," Zatanna said, skin deathly pale, "We're sliding towards the Dark."

Barry froze stiff.

"How?"

"Us. We broke the tentative balance of this world, and now it's destabilising. We have to go now before we pull our Earth down with it."

Barry grabbed Kara and ran through the breach at superspeed.

The world vanished, replaced by a tunnel of spiralling red and black light. Beyond the corridor of space-time, she could see dozens of other floating spheres. Earths nestled amongst what Barry called the Bleed - the fluid-like energy between Universes. But they didn't look like how he'd always described them in the past. These worlds had little to no glow about them, and, below Barry and Kara, she could glimpse a sea of pitch black, undulating like boiling tar. The closer an Earth was to that sea of magma, the less it glowed. Behind them, Earth X was literally sinking into the sea, the black surging around the world and swallowing it.

The corridor blended from red to blue as they rose, then Barry and Kara emerged in STAR Labs, rushing down the Speed-Canon platform. Barry ran her outside and left her standing in the sunlight. Immediately, she began to soak up the yellow light, basking in the rush of her powers returning. But all she could think about was that world, and sea reaching up to tear it apart.

* * *

**Part 5**

Barry emerged from the breach back on Earth X, just in time to watch as the concrete ground melted into blackness. He slid to a stop atop the platform and watched in horror as Nazi Oliver, and all the other people on the ground, fell into the Darkness, swallowed utterly. Clark barely managed to grab Overgirl by the arm before she fell in too. Zatanna pushed Constantine, Ray and Nate through the portal, before jumping in herself, leaving only Oliver and Sara, still holding the blackened staff, on the platform.

"Cisco isn't responding," Sara exclaimed.

"Go! I'll find him!" Oliver and Sara made to leave, but then Overgirl head, before limp in Clark's arm, jerked upright. Her eyes were pitch black.

_"ALL ROADS LEAD BACK TO DARKNESS, FLASH."_

Overgirl punched Clark in the stomach, and he recoiled in shock. She jerked free of his hold and fell down into the Dark.

"Now!" Barry yelled, pushing Sara and Oliver through the breach. Superman shot through after them, and Barry slipped into Flashtime.

The decay ground to a halt, and lightning flashing across his eyes, Barry began to run. He jumped off pieces of concrete and stone. Remnants of the cars or computers, floating in mid-air as they fell. All in total silence. His feet hit the wall, and he ran up and phased through the window to the command room. Cisco stood there in real-time, trying desperately to form a breach. But the window was tinted red and collapsing in on itself before it could form.

Barry grabbed him around the waist, bringing him into Flashtime and yanking him back towards the wall.

"Yah!"

He phased the two of them through the wall and ran back the way he came. The machine-made breach was shrinking. Collapsing in on itself as the platform sank into the nothing below. Barry's foot hit metal. The magma surged towards him, trying to grab his foot. Cisco shrieked. And they plunged straight through the portal.

Barry ran, all his concentration on Home, trying desperately to avoid the sight of the world sinking behind him.

"Oh, my God. Barry look," Cisco whispered in terror. Against his better judgement, Barry did look. There was a reflection in the surging sea of black. A network of more worlds. Or, more accurately, shattered Earths, their debris held together only by gravity. And two red eyes were looking back at them.

They outran the Dark, and the sea vanished into eternity. The breach turned back to blue, and they shot out of the Speed-Canon on Earth-Prime. They rolled down the stairs as the breach snapped shut, both of them panting as the adrenaline finally began to wear off.

Deathstroke stood at the foot of the portal, swords out, beside Wally and Jesse and Harry. Oliver was vomiting across the floor. Sara was sitting against the computer console, staring sightlessly into the Canon. Clark. He was just standing there, face blank, but eyes wide with fear.

* * *

Oliver sat on the roof of STAR Labs with a bottle of the strongest Vodka he could find. It wasn't enough to wash away what he'd seen today. Kara sat beside him, in new clothes, soaking up the sun. But she wasn't speaking. She was just sitting there, eyes closed. Thinking.

"Stein is going to be okay," Barry said, approaching from behind with Clark and Sara. He sat down beside Kara, and she instinctively laid her head on his shoulder, pressing herself up against him. Sara sat down on Oliver's side, and Clark sat down between him and Kara, placing a hand on his cousin's shoulder. "Caitlin managed to heal his wounds, but he'll have a limp for a while, and she's ordered no more time-travelling for the time being."

"He wanted a way off the ship anyway," Sara said. "He's getting tired, and I can't blame him for wanting out. His grandson is turning three in a few months, and he wants to spend more time with his daughter.

"What about Jax?" Oliver asked.

"Lily and Harry managed to work out a molecular stabiliser that should end their dependence on one another, and Evelyn has offered Jax a ticket back to the 25th century with her. I think he'll take it. He can do more there than with us, as much as I hate to say it. She's going to take my alternate self too."

They sat in silence for a while, before Clark finally brought up the question they were all too scared to ask.

"All roads lead back to Darkness," he whispered. "What does it mean?"

Barry shivered, looking out over the city as the sun began to set.

"Last year, when Cisco, Harry and I were travelling across the Multiverse, searching for the Speedster Serial Killer, Savitar, we learned several things about how the cosmos works. It's... far bigger than any of us could have imagined."

"Barry... that Darkness, It _saw_ us," Kara said, "It's going to try and finish the job. So we have to know what It is."

Barry sighed.

"Look. I don't know much. All we know is what the Flashes could tell us. Most of the people who know about the Dark Multiverse are either dead or under a gag order from the Multiversity - the council of Ascended Beings. The Dark Multiverse is like the basement of the Multiverse. Unstable worlds, ones wiped out by some tragedy or destroyed by armageddon, sink down towards it. When they hit the barrier, they're consumed by it, pulled down into the Dark. Nobody knows what happens to the worlds that get taken, or if the people in those universes survive. But..." he trailed off.

"Barry?" Sara asked, looking at him in concern.

"They say something is trapped down there. A being so terrible, even the gods refuse to name It."

"We'll be ready," Oliver said, "We always are."

Nobody had the confidence to echo the statement.

* * *

THE PRESENT...

Clark brought Kara into the Fortress of Solitude thankful that she'd finally fallen to sleep sometime during the flight. He lay her down on an icy table, and Kelex immediately appeared, flying up beside Kara and scanning her.

"I am detecting a large spike in extra-dimensional energy about her person, as well as the lingering biological signs of a miscarriage. However, I believe Kara Zor-El's current condition is a result of extreme shock."

"Thanks, Kelex," Clark muttered. The robot flew away, and Clark sighed. Then he pressed a button on the table, and a transparent dome enclosed her and began humming with yellow sunlight.

"I really need you to wake up, Kara," he whispered, "Cause I could really use some help." He looked away from Kara, and his eyes settled on a cryo-chamber a short distance away. Frozen in stasis within was a perfect duplicate of Kara Zor-El.

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S3EP10 - WHEN ANGELS FALL

**January 2018**

Ellie gripped the armrests of her seat aboard the Timeship Stormrunner, golden Legion Ring reflecting the flashing red lights of the alarms blaring overhead. In the seat beside her was Evelyn Sharpe, a woman Ellie considered one of her closest friends. On her other side was their new recruit, Mon-El of Daxam. In the captain's seat ahead of her, face knitted in concentration, was Brainiac 5. Her other best friend.

_"Temporal fracture detected! Immediate response required!"_

That was the voice of one artificial intelligence called Gideon, which was currently having a seizure. Or what passed for a seizure when you didn't have a body.

Out the main viewer, the Temporal Zone was engulfed in a terrifying storm of epic proportions. Bolts of golden lightning tore through the sea of green light, frantic, desperate. Wherever the lightning struck, the walls of time were stitched back together by threads of effervescent violet, which, after a few moments, faded back to green.

An event that shouldn't be had occurred, and now time was trying to tear itself apart. The Speed Force – time's accelerator as it were – was still running, pouring gas into a broken engine. The Sage Force – the engine cleaner, in keeping with the car metaphor – was trying to patch the leaks, but until the trigger was repaired, the damage would only build. Enter the Legion - cosmic mechanics.

"The Storm is preventing us from getting a lock on the Origin point!" Brainy yelled, "Saturn Girl, you'll need to weave us into the correct time period!"

Ellie nodded and closed her eyes.

For a brief moment, Ellie saw exactly what you'd expect to see when you closed your eyes. The backs of your eyelids. But Ellie was a conduit for the power of cosmic thought; story, at an eternal and infinite level. Lines of the purest white bloomed behind her eyes, and Ellie's mind chased the corridors out into the pattern.

To say that Ellie was a telepath would technically be a lie. Yes, she could hear people's thoughts, speak back to them, and, if she wanted to, dictate their actions. But Ellie did not actually control minds or thoughts. She was instead a conduit of the very power of consciousness. The Sage Force - the force that created _story_ itself. She had always thought the name a bit... limited. If she were to name the power, knowing what she did now, she would call it the Conflict Force. But she had grown up calling her gift the Sage Force, as per Cisco Ramone's talent for naming, and so the Sage Force it remained. By tapping her powers, she could interact with reality as it weaved itself around her. She could listen on people's thoughts, even at a subconscious level, and send her own ideas to people who could hear. She could move things within the pattern - herself, or objects, giving the appearance of telekinesis. And she could tweak people's stories, their place in reality, so that they performed actions she wished. But she could not control people, and often the pattern would fight back against her tampering if she pushed too far. It was a fine line to walk.

That was what she could do when drawing on the Sage Force. What she could do when she journeyed into it was far different. She could follow individual thoughts... threads, into the pattern of reality, and look into the fabric of the cosmos itself. That was what she did now. She traced lines of white thought through the history of Earth. Once, she had needed technological help to do this. She had learned much since then. The sheer breadth of knowledge available would overwhelm anyone who tried to take too much in, but Ellie knew the thread she searched for like the back of her hand. Nestled amongst the billions of white threads – the lives of ordinary people – were rare threads of a different colour. The easiest way to find the person she was searching for was to look for Barry Allen. He was always easy to find. A thread of solid gold, crackling with electricity, that drew in all the lines around it, including a strand of shimmering violet (Ellie's own thread). Entwined with Barry's thread was a white line. A thread that, right now, was frailer than Ellie had ever seen it before.

She slid along the thread of Kara Allen and slipped into her eyes.

_Kara climbed on shaky feet to the top of a crater. Blood dripped down her face, her suit was torn down the middle, and her left arm was dislocated. Her entire body burned in pain from invisible wounds, but her mind was clear. The street was full of people - some running, others, cameras out, unable to move. Police sirens were coming towards them, and Kara's earpiece had been ripped free in the fighting. Neither cops nor DEO would be able to stop this thing._

_A woman in a black suit - undamaged - emerged from the wreckage of a car, carrying in her hand a flaming door. She wore a mask like a spider's web, across her face, irises a dark red. Kara didn't recognise the crest she wore, but the smile. That look of manic glee. That she knew._

_The demon hurled the door with super strength, and it slammed into Kara's exposed gut. The metal crushed against her skin, but the velocity threw her back into the air. Twin beams of blistering heat-vision hit Kara, right in the chest, and they melted through her suit and skin alike. She screamed in utter agony, and the heat-vision vanished, replaced by a fist straight to the jaw. Kara's head snapped back, and she hurtled through the air, delirious and burning._

Ellie snapped back to the Timeship as Brainy exclaimed in triumph.

"Hurry!"

The Stormrunner trembled fiercely, then, in a flash of white, they burst into existence over National City in January 2018.

The monster known as Reign stood atop a high-rise, holding Supergirl by the neck.

"Brainy!" Ellie screamed, throwing off her restraints and charging for the door, Mon-El and Evelyn on her heels. Brainy's hands flew across the console, and a dozen torpedoes launched into the air. Ellie ignored it, running through the corridors of the ship in a haze. She closed her fist, then flicked it out, and her ring pulsed once. Nanites emerged from the gold shield, spreading across her body in seconds, hardening into a suit of red and white. Her hair braided itself, long and gold.

She jumped down the stairs into the cargo bay as the ship turned and the doors slid open. Then she launched herself out into the abyss.

Ellie pulled at her connection to the Sage Force, and gravity vanished. She propelled herself forward around the ship and took in the sight below her. The building had been utterly destroyed in the blast, but she could hear not thoughts and see no threads. No one had been in the building. No... there were still two. But they weren't human. Ellie dropped to the bitumen road next to the debris, around which a crowd was gathering. She spotted Aunt Lena, and James Olsen too, staring out with utter horror.

She thrust her hands forward, then pulled them down, and a massive chunk of the destruction soared out of the way. Revealing Supergirl, lying in a crater, rubble all around her.

"Mom..."

A pulse of rage burned in the ruins, and Ellie clenched a fist, thrusting it forward with a scream just as Reign shot out of the wreckage. A beam of violet energy blast the creature in the chest, and it screeched in pain. Ellie pulled more power and fired a second beam. Reign met it with heat-vision, pushing her back. So, Ellie locked eyes with Reign and seized her mind.

The street fell away, replaced by a dark forest, liquid shadow rolling across the ground. In the sky above, a violet sunburned. Two figures, two women, appeared in the dark. A human and a monster.

The woman did not rise as Ellie materialised from violet light, but the monster locked hate-filled eyes on her.

_"What are you?!"_ It snarled in challenge; red eyes gleaming.

"I am judgement. You do not belong." Ellie raised a hand, preparing to exorcise Reign from the mind of Samantha Arias.

The sun winked out of existence, and the mindscape shattered. Ellie was pulled back into the real world as her powers disappeared. She screamed, sinking to her knees. _Now?! Really!_

_"REIGN IS NOT YOUR STORY. YOU HAVE DONE ENOUGH."_

Ellie snarled at the voice in her mind, but her powers did not return, and she could do nothing. Reign pulled itself from the ground, took one look at Ellie, and fled into the night. Evelyn landed beside her, holding an enormous metal bow in her hands. Instead of an arrow, a bolt of pure plasma was loaded to the string.

Ellie ignored her friend. Instead, she ran to her mother's side, where Mon-El already knelt.

"Mom!"

Kara lay unmoving. Her suit was torn to shreds by heat vision and who knew what else, and fresh blood was pooling around her head.

"Please Mommy. Get up."

Ellie placed her Legion Ring against her mother's chest, and a current of electricity shot through her. Her body jolted, then she took a pathetic breath.

She was alive.

A sonic-boom crashed through the street, and her father appeared, swathed in golden lightning.

"Imra! What's... KARA!"

Barry dropped to his knees and tried to grab his wife, but Ellie, tears streaming down her face, put a hand on his chest, stopping him.

"You can't. Moving her could do even more damage."

He swallowed, then James and Lena were standing over them.

"Oh God," Lena whispered, "What was that... that thing?"

"It's called Reign," Evelyn said shakily, eyes on Kara, "Worldkiller."

Sirens filled the air, and seconds later, Auntie Alex and Uncle J'onn were there with a spinal-board. Ellie, forgetting her false identity, forgetting her place, grabbed her Dad and held onto him with everything she had.

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S3EP11 - DEMONS RUN

_'CLANG!' 'CLANG!' 'CLANG!'_

"Oliver!" Felicity's voice rang through the Arrow Bunker.

_'CLANG!' 'CLANG!' 'CLANG!'_

"OLIVER!"

Oliver paused in his ascent of the salmon ladder, looking over his shoulder towards the petite form of the genius hacker.

"What is it?" he called, taking a deep breath as his muscles strained on the metal bar.

"Kara... she's on the news... Oliver, she's not getting up."

Oliver dropped to the ground and grabbed his shirt as he began running towards the case where his suit and bow hung. Within thirty seconds he was completely suited up and racing towards a secret locker in the back of the Bunker – the place he kept the Kryptonite Kara had entrusted to him.

"Oliver! Is that... where the Hell did you get that!" Felicity exclaimed, rushing after him as the elevator opened to reveal Dig. The ever-reliable ex-bodyguard instantly picked up on Oliver's mood, snapping into a wary mode, hand flitting towards the gun at his hip.

"Dig, you've got command. You'll have to handle things here for however long..." The rest of Oliver's statement was lost, as a streak of red and yellow lightning lanced through the Bunker.

The next thing Oliver knew, he was – infuriatingly – in the arms of one Barry Allen, aka the Flash, practically _flying_ down the highway between Starling and National. A second later, Oliver was on his feet again.

He took a precious moment to regain his composure, blinking away the nausea that always accompanied being ferried via superspeed. Then he snapped his eyes open, drew, and nocked arrow to bow.

He was in a medical suite with glass windows and white panelled walls. Several metal tables covered in medical implements, computers and other machines lined the walls, but dominating the space was a bed surrounded by golden effervescent lamps, each giving off incredible amounts of heat. Crowded around the mattress, all staring at him in shock, were Alex, J'onn Jones (whom he'd met the previous year in Metropolis), Superman, Caitlin and Cisco.

Barry appeared beside them, cowl pulled back, eyes ringed with red, hands trembling.

"I've searched the city. There's no sign of this... Reign person," Barry stated, tone sharp.

"What happened?" Oliver asked, voice low and dangerous.

"We're not sure," Alex said, expression mirroring Barry's own haunted look, "a woman calling herself _Reign_, Kryptonian according to our analysis of the video footage, attacked her. We don't know why, or what her motivation is..."

"Will she be okay?" Clark asked hesitantly.

"Kara was still feeling the effects of the red-sun exposure on Earth X, so she was weaker than normal when this thing attacked, but her body is regenerating as normal," Caitlin said. "We managed to stabilise the collapsed lung and remove the shattered bone fragments from her internal organs. It's... it's lucky I'd already done preliminary examinations on how to operate on her physiology." Caitlin glanced towards Barry at this point, and Oliver frowned. Why had she... Oh. "Or we might be having a very different conversation." Barry grabbed the table edge, flickers of yellow lightning running along his fingers. Oliver's hand clenched around his bow.

"She's still in a coma," Alex whispered, "and we've got the lamps on to refuel her cells. How long it'll be until she wakes up? There's no way to know." Oliver nodded, then gestured to Barry. The two stepped out of the room and onto a balcony overlooking the central hub of the DEO below.

"This is going to get messy, Barry," Oliver warned, voice low, eyes darting around the room from beneath his mask and hood.

"I'm long past caring, Ollie. Whoever this person is, if she can take out Kara..."

"We've _all _got problems," Oliver finished. Barry didn't meet Oliver's eyes, instead staring at a man on the bottom floor. He was clean-cut and wore ordinary clothes – leaving him somewhat out of place in what was clearly a military establishment. Sitting, back against the wall was Imra Ardeen, golden hair hanging limply in its braid over shoulder. Her face was covered in tears.

"The Legion showed up just in time," Clark said, stepping up beside them. His face was just as dark as theirs. "They saved her life."

"We're going to find this Reign person Oliver," Barry said, jaw clenched. "She might be as strong as Kara, but she's nowhere near as fast as me." He paused. "Did you bring the..."

Oliver nodded, casting a glance at Clark.

"She gave it to you?" He whispered.

Oliver nodded again.

"Good enough for me."

"Whatever you three are going to do, I want in." They spun around, coming face to face with Alex, fingers repeatedly tensing around the grip of her gun.

Barry shook his head.

"Sorry, Alex, don't get me wrong, I don't doubt your ability to be bad-ass – I saw you in action on Earth-X. But you can't keep up with us." Alex gestured to Oliver.

"And he can?"

"Kara, Barry and I train monthly, practising skills and attacks with each other and constantly updating our respective moves and abilities," Oliver told the distraught woman, "We fight together as a unit. You're a brilliant fighter Alex, but..."

"I'd be a liability," she finished, frowning. "Kara never mentioned..."

"We don't advertise it," Barry said, "it's a private thing." He turned to Oliver.

"I'll scout the city from the ground again, Clark, take the sky. We'll meet at Kara's hideaway in an hour." He vanished in a blur of lightning, and Clark shot out the DEO balcony after him. Oliver grabbed Alex's shoulder.

"If you want to help, show me everything you have from the fight. _Everything."_

* * *

**Authors Notes**

We're breaking character a bit here, but to be honest, this took a lot out of us. Given the current climate, writing about Nazis and segregation and racism was really hard, and certainly not fun. And considering we do this mainly for personal enjoyment, it pushed us to the brink of what we were comfortable with. This section was originally going to be longer and would have included the resistance and the concentration camp scenes, but neither of us wanted to write them, so we shortened the ending, and instead used it to begin the foreshadowing for the Grand Finale.

For those of you who don't know anything about the Dark Multiverse or the Destroyer, we aren't making it up. The Dark Multiverse has been a significant part of DC Comics since the Rebirth relaunch in 2016. It was introduced, officially, in the _Dark Nights: Metal_ storyline from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo (note, that Scott Snyder and Zack Snyder, the movie guy, are in no way related). You'll probably recognise their work from the _Court of Owls_, _Death of the Family_, and _Batman: Eternal_, Batman storylines. You can find _Metal_ in any comic-book store or on ComiXology, which has regular sales for DC books, or Amazon for Kindle or Hard Cover. If you're interested, we highly recommend giving it a read.

Furthermore, the Multiversity derives from Grant Morrison's _The Multiversity_ graphic novel, which explains how the DC Multiverse works and is a New York Times bestseller.

We'll pick up with the rest of Reign, and what's going on with Red Daughter, when we come back, but it probably won't be for a couple weeks, as we've got exams to sit.

Until then, there's this thing that's been bugging us.

How the fuck do 'inhibitor collars' work?

Cicada's dagger makes sense. It sucks up dark-matter and stops meta-human powers from working. Caitlin's powers are immune because her abilities don't come from Dark Matter. Basic narrative laws. Introduce a power, establish its limitations, then keep to those rules while providing a means for character development and expansion.

But by that logic, Cisco's 'power-dampening' cells shouldn't work against Caitlin either. Yet they do. In Crisis on Earth X, Kara's powers get taken away from her by a 'power-dampening' collar, and in Elseworlds, she's locked in one of Cisco's cells. But the same tech shouldn't work on her that works on metas. Her powers have nothing to do with Dark Matter. Barry doesn't make any sense either. The Speed Force is an external power, right? It has to be drawn on. Why does Cicada's dagger or the meta-human cells or the Earth X collars affect him? Surely, you'd need some way to explicitly block Barry's connection to the Speed-Force itself.

It's not just the Arrowverse that does it. Marvel has the problem big time with Mutant inhibitor collars. You can't just turn off the X-Gene. That's not how DNA works. Instead, you have to block their powers another way. But all Mutant powers are different, so how can one collar be universal? Why does the same thing that stops Professor X - a telepath - stop Iceman - a cryokinetic - or Wolverine?

It's just lazy writing.

# # # # #


	10. Reign

**Disclaimer:**

_"Hello, everyone. I was wondering if you could tell me where some friends of mine are. Ghost and Miracle? Those authors who keep having to tell you that they don't own any copyrighted franchises? Perhaps you've seen them, or heard from them? Me and my friends are searching the Multiverse, but haven't been able to find them. Send me a review if you have any information that could help us…"_

_"Regards, Bruce Wayne of Earth -22."_

* * *

**The Present Day…**

Barry stood on the floor of the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator, simply staring into space. He knew what he needed to do, he was just trying to build up the courage to actually do it.

Kara was still missing. No one had seen her in almost a day now. Not since Clark had taken her away. Once Barry had dropped Ellie at her school that morning, he'd gone to Metropolis looking for Clark, but he'd been unable to find him. Then he'd come to STAR to meet with Cisco and Caitlin and someone called Lena. She was nice, if a bit formal, but she seemed to genuinely care about Kara.

STAR was no longer what he'd left. The building was a ruin no more, all the damage had been repaired, and hundreds of people were working in offices or labs. And the majority of them appeared to be aliens. The Cortex and its associated areas had all been sealed off from the main complex, but… STAR Labs, a functioning business again? It was practically unthinkable. Actually, how _hadn't _they thought about it before? Even the Cortex was different. The computers were all far more advanced than on Earth One, the chairs - for some reason - were leather and not plastic, and the wall where his suit had sat now contained a dozen silos. Each was a chrome white, and labelled with a different symbol. Though his was still in the centre, Oliver's was on the left and Kara's on the right. But neither looked remotely like their suits from the last reality.

After getting over his shock, he'd spoken at length to the three scientists about Kara, her condition, the toll her shock was taking, and some things he really wished had been kept a secret. Then Cisco and Lena had explained what they'd seen in the Vibe.

That was what lead him here. There was one place he could get all the answers he needed. He just wasn't certain he dared. The last time he'd entered the Speed-Force, everyone had become stranded through time.

"I'm not sure demanding answers of cosmic-powers is a wise course Mr Allen." J'onn J'onzz, in his human form, floated down from the entryway and landed on the metal beside him.

"It's always worked for me before."

J'onn raised an eyebrow.

"Well, usually…"

"This reality is far from the one we left. You don't know what you could be running into."

Barry sighed, turning to look at the Martian.

"That's why I have to do it. Running is what I'm best at. It's how I solve problems. It has to give me an answer to this one too."

"What if you become lost? Would you do that to your daughter?"

Barry flinched, pulling his eyes away from J'onn's sympathetic face.

"Is having a child such a bad thing? Is being married to Kara so distressing?"

"NO!" Barry exclaimed. He ran a hand through his hair, gripping it and pulling. "I… It's not that. You forget, this isn't all that new to me. I've dealt with things like this before. You try and change something, and when you come back, nothing is as you left it."

"Your Flashpoint," J'onn guessed.

"Yes, and more. Time isn't something that bounds my existence like it does everyone else's. I've time-traveled half a dozen times, and each time things have shifted. I turned a super-villain into a hero by accident, I turned my best-friend into a psychopath… I've seen alternate timelines where I become a hopeless wreck, or a deranged serial killer, traveled to a half dozen different universes with different versions of me and my friends. I've watched my wife… Iris… get murdered right in front of me. I watched my daughter get erased from existence."

He took a long harrowing breath, trying to steady his heart beat.

"Ever since I became the Flash, I've had a ticking clock counting down on my life. 'The Flash, Missing! Vanishes in Crisis!'. You can't understand what that's like. Knowing there's a specific date where you're going to sacrifice everything, and never come back. My daughter came from the future, risking everything, just to meet me. She had no memories of me. She didn't even know I was the Flash… and Thawne stole her away. Just like he's stolen everything else from me."

He looked back to J'onn, staring into the man's unflinching gaze.

"Kara is wonderful. She's the most brilliant person I've ever met, or ever will meet for that matter. Being married to her, having a daughter… It's a dream J'onn. Something that perfect? It's not in the cards for me. Its not my destiny. I was supposed to die in the Crisis. Now I'm just living on borrowed time."

He turned back to the empty accelerator ring and narrowed his eyes, mind made up.

"Kara came to Cisco because she wanted to know if she could restore her past self. This other me… the father Ellie knows and deserves… I don't need Cisco's help to bring him back."

"Oliver remade the Universe for you Barry," J'onn said, grabbing Barry's arm. "For all of us. To give us a chance to do things right."

"I am doing things right," he snapped back, phasing free of the martian's grip. "I'm doing the only thing I'm good at. Running."

Before J'onn could say anything more, Barry took off, accelerating with a sonic_ boom. _Five laps around the accelerator, then he threw himself into the air. J'onn had barely moved.

The swirling portal he'd been expecting did not appear. Instead, the gateway to the Speed-Force formed as a crack in the air, flickering with electricity, rainbow steam pouring forth into the world. He ran into it anyway.

The Earth vanished. Replaced by that all encompassing cosmic storm. A tunnel of blue energy, images swirling amongst the eternal sea. Everything Cisco had told them about. He could see himself, struck by lightning, found on the ground by Kara. He saw himself in the future, fighting alongside Kara and Oliver against the Reverse Flash. In a bar, drinking to heroics. He saw them adopt Ellie, watched them trapped beneath an enormous dome. He saw Overgirl, pulled down into a sea of molten tar. And then he was kissing her. In Kara's apartment, atop a skyscraper, in STAR Labs, in New York 1776.

The tunnel _shattered, _and Barry fell into an ocean of rainbow light stretching as far as the eye could see. The very air around him seemed to refract, rippling like water, yet entirely non-corporal. Golden lightning thundered around him, crackling between churning storm clouds like islands stranded throughout eternity. It was into one of these islands that Barry crashed. He didn't fall through as he'd feared. The storm cushioned his landing, lightning crackling up from the vapour, licking at his feet.

Heart pounding, desperately trying to take in what he was seeing, he stood up on shaky legs and stared out at the sea. It was not as endless as he'd thought. He could actually see what appeared to be the surface high above him, and a landmass in the distance. Far, far below him, was another surface. It was not the ground like a true ocean, but rather the other side of a pool of water in space.

A light of effervescent violet faded into existence around him, hovering around his head like a halo. The air shimmered, and the rainbow refraction coalesced into an image of a young version of himself, conversing with a far younger Eobard Thawne.

_Barry stepped back and followed Eobard's gestured hand towards a screen._

_"Energy cannot be created or destroyed, which means this Speed Force we burn as lightning when we run has to come from somewhere. So I broke down the particulate structure and used the Multiversal Quantum Positioning System STAR Labs developed to search for similar energy formations across the Orrery of Worlds. Look what I found." He tapped a key, and a grid of floating spheres appeared on his map. A space towards the upper edge, like a wall of energy, illuminated._

_"Everything points to that energy storm. I think this power you call the Speed Force, and it has to be some sort of reservoir, another dimension perhaps. The way you got here, time travelling. I think you must have run so fast you entered this Speed Force in your time and got spat out in mine. To get you home, all we'll have to do is reopen the gateway you used to get here."_

The image splintered back into rainbow energy, which then coalesced into… into a woman? Tall, with hair a coppery red, wearing an elegant white dress that refracted the colours around her. Her eyes were miniature storms, swirling with energy, eternal in depth. Her form… it was not fixed. She did not have an outline, her body fuzzed to light at the edges, and it was impossible to tell where her hair ended and the light began. But the lightning… golden electricity rippled across her body, sparking outwards to reconnect with the sky.

_YOU ARE NOT ONE OF MINE._

Barry stepped backwards as the awesome voice thundered around him. The woman didn't move her mouth, but he knew it was her voice, as sure as he knew how to breathe.

_YOU ARE FROM… FROM OUTSIDE?_

The voice softened, and the woman stepped forward. She raised a hand towards Barry, face etched with curiosity. Before she could touch Barry's skin, the cloud beneath his feet roared upwards, spiralling into a vortex all around them. In an instant, he was within the storm he'd expected to see. The speed-force as he'd seen it before. Nora Allen stepped out from inside the storm-wall, face panicked, terrified.

"Mom? What's going on?!"

_'She is not us, Barry,'_ his mother said, the voice of the Speed-Force he knew, _'She is the Speed-Force of this new reality. They do not…'_

She was cut off by a thundering 'BOOM!'. The storm wall blasted apart, and Barry was falling again. Down, down, down he fell, and each time a storm cloud tried to catch him, a shard of rainbow light would blast it apart.

_I CAN SENSE IT NOW. A CRISIS. YOU COME FROM A MULTIVERSE DESTROYED. HOW ARE YOU HERE?_

Lightning crashed around him, licking tenderly at his body as he fell. The wall of energy at the bottom of the ocean was growing closer and closer. He tried pulling at the lightning, tried to draw the Speed-Force into him. The lightning flickered around him, but he couldn't connect to it. A scream of pure agony ripped through the air, through Barry's very mind, and he reached again. He imagined the feeling of running, the feeling of the air surging past his face, the thrill of the lightning.

_'No Barry!'_

Something gave, and Barry's eyes shot open. A bolt of lightning arced out from one of the storm-clouds, spearing him through the chest.

The ocean vanished, and Barry dropped into the blue vortex of the Speed-Force. He stopped falling as a howling wind surged upwards from below, rotating around him like a hurricane. Lightning bled from his body, funnelling upwards into the stormwall. The violet light returned, clinging to his body like a shell. At the highest peak of the storm was a pool of white power, reflecting down like sunlight on a warm summers day. Far below boiled a sea of pitch black, like molten tar. Finally, a burst of red burst free from the storm. It appeared at first like a bird, but it quickly dissolved into a ball of angry red. A sphere of gold chased it through the storm, but Barry wasn't watching it. His gaze was locked on the cloud layer. Beyond the wall, like a washed out mirror, was himself.

He reached out to the reflection, and the Flash behind the mirror reached back. Their fingers met at the storm wall, and memories blossomed in Barry's mind. Memories of Kara. Of a meeting on a train and bringing flowers to her apartment, of singing in a New York bar and kissing in the rain.

He felt the love this Barry had for Kara. It was unconditional, utter devotion. He would do anything for her, _had _done anything for her.

As one, they glanced down to the sea of tar.

_YOU DIED. EVERYTHING DIED. A MONITOR GONE ROGUE. A CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. WE SHALL SPEAK WITH HER ON YOUR BEHALF, AND INVESTIGATE THIS… ANTI-MATTER UNIVERSE. IF SUCH A WORLD EXISTS WITHIN THE ORRERY, IT WILL BE FOUND AND OBLITERATED._

The voice went silent, but Barry could think of nothing but the memories flooding into his brain. For he was seeing something now that he couldn't understand. This new Multiverse… it was not as kind a place as he had thought. There was a Darkness, a shadow, and something trapped within that he could barely comprehend. He could see a great and terrible storm, rolling across a shattered plain and washing away all before it. A tempest brimming with power immeasurable. And he was running before it.

_"Thank you, Barry Allen. Now go. Live your dream." _

A new voice, clear as the most exquisite diamond, yet holding a depth greater than the deepest ocean, whispered in his mind. It was beautiful, powerful, magnificent, and it was gone just as quickly as it appeared.

His mirror self smiled at him, and Barry was jerked forward into the storm wall. He crashed through the lightning, and shot back into the Particle Accelerator ring. He hit the floor on his shoulder, then his head, then his back and head again.

His head swam, body growning in pain it didn't understand. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep. And in his sleep, he dreamed…

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S3EP10 - WHEN ANGELS FALL

**January 2018**

Ellie gripped the armrests of her seat aboard the Timeship Stormrunner, golden Legion Ring reflecting the flashing red lights of the alarms blaring overhead. In the seat beside her was Evelyn Sharpe, a woman Ellie considered one of her closest friends. On her other side was their new recruit, Mon-El of Daxam. In the captain's seat ahead of her, face knitted in concentration, was Brainiac 5. Her other best friend.

_"TEMPORAL FRACTURE DETECTED! IMMEDIATE RESPONSE REQUIRED!"_

That was the voice one artificial intelligence called Gideon, which was currently having a seizure. Or what passed for a seizure when you didn't have a body.

Out the main viewer, the Temporal Zone was engulfed in a terrifying storm of epic proportions. Bolts of golden lightning tore through the sea of green light, frantic, desperate. Wherever the lightning struck, the walls of time were stitched back together by threads of effervescent violet, which, after a few moments, faded back to green.

An event that shouldn't be had occurred, and now time was trying to tear itself apart. The Speed Force - time's accelerator as it were - was still running, pouring gas into a broken engine. The Sage Force - the engine cleaner, in keeping with the car metaphor - was trying to patch the leaks, but until the trigger was repaired, the damage would only build. Enter the Legion - cosmic mechanics.

"The Storm is preventing us from getting a lock on the Origin point!" Brainy yelled, "Saturn Girl, you'll need to weave us into the correct time period!"

Ellie nodded, and closed her eyes.

For a brief moment, Ellie saw exactly what you'd expect to see when you closed your eyes. The backs of your eyelids. But Ellie was a conduit for the power of cosmic thought; story, at an eternal and infinite level. Lines of the purest white bloomed behind her eyes, and Ellie's mind chased the corridors out into the pattern.

To say that Ellie was a telepath would technically be a lie. Yes, she could hear peoples thoughts, speak back to them, and, if she wanted to, dictate their actions. But Ellie did not actually control minds or thoughts. She was instead a conduit of the very power of consciousness. The Sage Force - the force that created _story _itself. She had always thought the name a bit… limited. If she were to name the power, knowing what she did now, she would call it the Conflict Force. But she had grown up calling her gift the Sage Force, as per Cisco Ramone's talent for naming, and so the Sage Force it remained. By tapping her powers, she could interact with reality as it weaved itself around her. She could listen on peoples thoughts, even at a subconscious level, and send her own thoughts to people who could listen. She could move things within the pattern - herself, or objects, giving the appearance of telekinesis. And she could tweak peoples stories, their place in reality, so that they performed actions she wished. But she could not control people, and often the pattern would fight back against her tampering if she pushed too far. It was a fine line to walk.

That was what she could do when drawing on the Sage Force. What she could do when she journeyed into it was far different. She could follow individual thoughts… threads, into the pattern of reality, and look into the fabric of the cosmos itself. That was what she did now. She traced lines of white thought through the history of Earth. Once, she had needed technological help to do this. She had learned much since then. The sheer breadth of knowledge available would overwhelm anyone who tried to take too much in, but Ellie knew the thread she searched for like the back of her hand. Nestled amongst the billions of white threads - the lives of ordinary people - were rare threads of a different colour. The easiest way to find who she was looking for, was to look for Barry Allen. He was always easy to find. A thread of solid gold, crackling with electricity, that drew in all the lines around it, including a thread of shimmering violet (Ellie's own thread). Entwined with Barry's thread, was a white line. A line that, right now, was frailer than Ellie had ever seen it before.

She slid along the thread of Kara Allen, and slipped into her eyes.

_Kara climbed on shaky feet to the top of a crater. Blood dripped down her face, her suit was torn down the middle, and her left arm was dislocated. Her entire body burned in pain from invisible wounds, but her mind was clear. The street was full of people - some running, others, cameras out, unable to move. Police sirens were coming towards them, and Kara's earpiece had been ripped free in the fighting. Neither cops nor DEO would be able to stop this thing._

_A woman in a black suit - undamaged - emerged from the wreckage of a car, carrying in her hand a flaming door. She wore a mask like a spider's web, across her face, irises a dark red. Kara didn't recognise the crest she wore, but the smile. That look of maniac glee. That she knew._

_The demon hurled the door with super strength, and it slammed into Kara's exposed gut. The metal crushed against her skin, but the velocity threw her backwards into the air. Twin beams of blistering heat-vision hit Kara, right in the chest, and they melted through her suit and skin alike. She screamed in utter agony, and the heat-vision vanished, replaced by a fist straight to the jaw. Kara's head snapped back, and she hurtled through the air, delirious and burning._

Ellie snapped back to the timeship as Brainy exclaimed in triumph.

"Hurry!"

The Stormrunner trembled fiercely, then, in a flash of white, they burst into existence over National City in January 2018.

The monster known as Reign stood atop a high-rise, holding Supergirl by the neck.

"Brainy!" Ellie screamed, throwing off her restraints and charging for the door, Mon-El and Evelyn on her heels. Brainy's hands flew across the console, and a dozen torpedoes launched into the air. Ellie ignored it, running through the corridors of the ship in a haze. She closed her fist, then flicked it out, and her ring pulsed once. Nanites emerged from the gold shield, spreading across her body in seconds, hardening into a suit of red and white. Her hair braided itself, long and gold.

She jumped down the stairs into the cargo bay as the ship turned and the doors slid open. Then she launched herself out into the abyss.

Ellie pulled at her connection to the Sage Force, and gravity vanished. She propelled herself forward around the ship, and took in the sight below her. The building had been utterly destroyed in the blast, but she could hear not thoughts and see no threads. No one had been in the building. No… there were still two. But they weren't human. Ellie dropped to the bitumen road next to the debris, around which a crowd was gathering. She spotted Aunt Lena, and James Olsen too, staring out with utter horror.

She thrust her hands forward, then pulled them down, and a massive chunk of the destruction soared out of the way. Revealing Supergirl, lying in a crater, rubble all around her.

"Mom…"

A pulse of rage burned in the ruins, and Ellie clenched a fist, thrusting it forward with a scream just as Reign shot out of the wreckage. A beam of violet energy blast the creature in the chest, and it screeched in pain. Ellie pulled more power, and shot a second beam. Reign met it with heat-vision, pushing her back. So Ellie locked eyes with Reign, and seized her mind.

The street fell away, replaced by a dark forest, liquid shadow rolling across the ground. In the sky above, a violet sun burned. Two figures, two women, appeared in the dark. A human and a monster.

The woman did not rise as Ellie materialised from violet light, but the monster locked hate filled eyes on her.

_"What are you?!" _It snarled in challenge, red eyes gleaming.

_"I am judgement. You do not belong."_ Ellie raised a hand, preparing to exorcise Reign from the mind of Sammantha Arias.

The sun winked out of existence, and the mindscape shattered. Ellie was pulled back into the real-world as her powers disappeared. She screamed, sinking to her knees. _Now?! Really!_

REIGN IS NOT YOUR STORY. YOU HAVE DONE ENOUGH.

Ellie snarled at the voice in her mind, but her powers did not return, and she could do nothing. Reign pulled itself from the ground, took one look at Ellie, and fled into the night. Evelyn landed beside her, holding an enormous metal bow in her hands. Instead of an arrow, a bolt of pure plasma was loaded to the string.

Ellie ignored her friend. Instead she ran to her mother's side, where Mon-El already knelt.

"Mom!"

Kara lay unmoving. Her suit was torn to shreds by heat vision and who knew what else, and fresh blood was pooling around her head.

"Please Mommy. This isn't how it ends."

Ellie placed her Legion Ring against her mother's chest, and a current of electricity shot through her. Her body jolted, then she took a pathetic breath.

She was alive.

A sonic-boom crashed through the street, and her father appeared, swathed in golden lightning.

"Imra! What's… KARA!"

Barry dropped to his knees and tried to grab his wife, but Ellie, tears streaming down her face, put a hand on his chest, stopping him.

"You can't. Moving her could do even more damage."

He swallowed, then James and Lena were standing over them.

"Oh God," Lena whispered, "What was that… that thing?"

"It's called Reign," Evelyn said shakily, eyes on Kara, "Worldkiller."

Sirens filled the air, and seconds later, Auntie Alex and Uncle J'onn were there with a spinal-board. Ellie, forgetting her false identity, forgetting her place, grabbed her Dad and held onto him with everything she had.

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S3EP11 - DEMONS RUN

_'CLANG!' 'CLANG!' 'CLANG!'_

"Oliver!" Felicity's voice rang through the Arrow Bunker.

_'CLANG!' 'CLANG!' 'CLANG!'_

"OLIVER!"

Oliver paused in his ascent of the salmon ladder, looking over his shoulder towards the petite form of the genius hacker.

"What is it?" he called, taking a deep breath as his muscles strained on the metal bar.

"Kara… she's on the news…. Oliver, she's not getting up."

Oliver dropped to the ground and grabbed his shirt as he began running towards the case where his suit and bow hung. Within thirty seconds he was completely suited up and racing towards a secret locker in the back of the Bunker – the place he kept the Kryptonite Kara had entrusted to him.

"Oliver! Is that… where the hell did you get that!" Felicity exclaimed, rushing after him as the elevator opened to reveal Dig. The ever-reliable ex-bodyguard instantly picked up on Oliver's mood, snapping into a wary mode, hand flitting towards the gun at his hip.

"Dig, you've got command. You'll have to handle things here for however long…" The rest of Oliver's statement was lost, as a streak of red and yellow lightning lanced through the Bunker.

The next thing Oliver knew, he was – infuriatingly – in the arms of one Barry Allen, aka the Flash, practically _flying_ down the highway between Starling and National. A second later, Oliver was on his feet again.

He took a precious moment to regain his composure, blinking away the nausea that always accompanied being ferried via superspeed. Then he snapped his eyes open, drew, and nocked arrow to bow.

He was in a medical suite with glass windows and white panelled walls. Several metal tables covered in medical implements, computers and other machines lined the walls, but dominating the space was a bed surrounded by golden effervescent lamps, each giving off incredible amounts of heat. Crowded around the bed, all staring at him in shock, were Alex, J'onn Jones (whom he'd met the previous year in Metropolis), Superman, Caitlin and Cisco.

Barry appeared beside them, cowl pulled back, eyes ringed with red, hands trembling.

"I've searched the city. There's no sign of this… Reign person," Barry stated, tone sharp.

"What happened?" Oliver asked, voice low and dangerous.

"We're not sure," Alex said, expression mirroring Barry's own haunted look, "a woman calling herself _Reign_, Kryptonian according to our analysis of the video footage, attacked her. We don't know why, or what her motivation is…"

"Will she be okay?" Clark asked hesitantly.

"Kara was still feeling the effects of the red-sun exposure on Earth X, should she was weaker than normal when this thing attacked, but her body is regenerating as normal," Caitlin said, "We managed to stabilise the collapsed lung and remove the shattered bone fragments from her internal organs. Its… its lucky I'd already done preliminary examinations on how to operate on her physiology." Caitlin glanced towards Barry at this point, and Oliver frowned. Why had she… Oh. "Or we might be having a very different conversation." Barry grabbed the table edge, flickers of yellow lightning running along his fingers. Oliver's hand clenched around his bow.

"She's still in a coma," Alex whispered, "and we've got the lamps on to refuel her cells. How long it'll be until she wakes up? There's no way to know." Oliver nodded, then gestured to Barry. The two stepped out of the room and onto a balcony overlooking the central hub of the DEO below.

"This is going to get messy, Barry," Oliver warned, voice low, eyes darting around the room from beneath his mask and hood.

"I'm long past caring, Ollie. Whoever this person is, if she can take out Kara…"

"We've _all_ got problems," Oliver finished. Barry didn't meet Oliver's eyes, instead staring at a man on the bottom floor. He was clean-cut, and wore ordinary clothes – leaving him somewhat out of place in what was clearly a military establishment. Sitting, back against the wall, was Imra Ardeen, golden hair hanging limply in its braid over shoulder. Her face was covered in tears.

"The Legion showed up just in time," Clark said, stepping up beside them. His face was just as dark as theirs.

"We're going to find this Reign person Oliver," Barry said, jaw clenched. "She might be as strong as Kara, but she's nowhere near as fast as me." He paused. "Did you bring the…"

Oliver nodded, casting a glance at Clark.

"She gave it to you?" He whispered.

Oliver nodded again.

"Good enough for me."

"Whatever you three are going to do, I want in." They spun around, coming face to face with Alex , fingers repeatedly tensing around the grip of her gun.

Barry shook his head.

"Sorry, Alex, don't get me wrong, I don't doubt your ability to be bad-ass – I saw you in action on Earth-X. But you can't keep up with us." Alex gestured to Oliver.

"And he can?"

"Kara, Barry and I train monthly, practicing skills and attacks with each other and constantly updating our respective moves and abilities," Oliver told the distraught woman, "We fight together as a unit. You're a brilliant fighter Alex, but…"

"I'd be a liability," she finished, frowning. "Kara never mentioned…"

"We don't advertise it," Barry said, "it's a private thing." He turned to Oliver.

"I'll scout the city from the ground again, Clark, take the sky. We'll meet at Kara's hideaway in an hour." He vanished in a blur of lightning, and Clark shot out the DEO balcony after him. Oliver grabbed Alex's shoulder.

"If you want to help, show me everything you have from the fight. _Everything._"

* * *

Barry flashed into an abandoned office in Catco Plaza. Oliver was already seated at a desk, Felicity on a square in the corner of the screen. Camera images were flashing across the screen at hundreds per second. Clark stood behind them, arms crossed, eyes closed, face contorted in a concentration Barry recognised from Kara's face. He was using his hearing.

_"The footage definitely suggests a Kryptonian Oliver. But she's not holding back her punches like Kara and Clark do. Each one creates a gravity wave that damages nearby infrastructure. One hit is all it would take to kill you or Barry."_

"I know. But we can't just sit here and do nothing," Oliver said.

_"I… I don't like this Oliver. I've tried calling the Waverider, but there's been no answer. I've even activated the distress beacon Hal gave us to call the Green Lanterns. Nothing."_

"I trust Evelyn and Imra, and we have the Martian as well. Reign can't beat all of us."

_"She doesn't need to beat all of you. Only J'onn and Clark can take any of her hits. Oliver… this fight you're trying to prep for… it's like a six-character party with only one and a half-tanks trying to take on an endgame Raid boss. Do you know the odds of surviving that?"_

"I appreciate you're using video-game logic to describe a super-villain Felicity," Oliver said, rolling his eyes.

_"Sounds like something from a video game," _she mumbled.

"I spoke to everyone on the street," Barry said, "None of them saw where Reign came from, but all of them begged me to tell them Supergirl was okay. Do you know how bloody hard it is to say she'd going to be fine when we have literally no idea whether she'll make it to the morning?" Clark opened his eyes and placed a hand on Barry's shoulder.

"Yeah. I do, and it doesn't get easier."

Barry took a deep breath. "Sorry. I'm just… I can't stop seeing her like that… helpless. I've never seen her like that before. It's terrifying."

"Where's Ellie?"

"With Joe, far away from any television or device which streams the news."

_"The footage is all over the globe. Stations from Australia to Hungary are playing it on repeat."_

Barry took another long breath.

"What's the plan?" Clark whispered.

"I've taken down a Kryptonian before," Barry said.

"Me."

"If I keep my wits about me, I can stay ahead of her punches. I know lightning doesn't work this time, so I won't make that mistake again. It's Oliver that I'm worried about."

Oliver swivelled his chair towards them.

"We've been practicing. Teaching each other the tell-tale signs we make. I know to look for the vibrations in the ground to prepare for a speedster punch. I can predict and track a Kryptonian by their wind and gravity disturbance. Speedsters don't have enhanced awareness; they can't outrun what they can't see. Kryptonians can't dodge individual shots - they have to move their entire bodies out of the way, so expect a burst of speed to evade a trap. They can't perceive things in slow-motion like speedsters can, but they can hear the string of my bow when it releases. The key is getting you off-balance. If Reign is disorientated, I can hit her. That's your job." He gestured to the screen.

"This… thing… whatever she is, it doesn't fight with training or finesse. She punches, hard, and uses the pain to follow through. You have to turn the tables. Skill beats strength every time. Its when you get sloppy that the trouble starts."

The computer pinged.

_"I've got a possible lead. The mask is preventing facial ID from getting a lock, but there was a NORAD satellite above the city when the attack happened. I've taken… um… temporary control of it, and used one of Cisco's algorithms to scan for gravitational disturbance patterns consistent with Kryptonian flight. I've isolated a path leading to a house in suburban National City, but its faint."_

Barry glanced to Clark and nodded, then grabbed Oliver and flashed them down the side of the building. Within seconds he'd reached the house Felicity had spoken of. He placed Oliver on the sidewalk, gave him a moment to adjust, then sped to the front door. Clark flew down from the sky, quietly to avoid any noise, and landed on the footpath beside him. He squinted, focussing on a room on the second story.

"Two bodies. Both on the top floor, in two different rooms. One of them's a kid."

Oliver frowned.

"A hostage?"

"I don't think so. She's just… sleeping? A secret identity?"

Oliver bit his lip.

"I don't like this… give me two minutes."

* * *

Oliver approached the house from the door furthest from the sleepers. The lock was simple to pick, and he eased the door open without a sound. This was not the home of a skilled combatant, or even a paranoid ordinary person. There were no strategically placed weapons or defences, not even a burglar alarm. Something was very wrong here.

The house was very suburban - upper-middle class. An ironing board stood in a corner, wrinkled clothing still draped across the top. An iPad sat on the coffee table, beside an empty mug.

Cautiously, he made his way up the stairs, testing each one for creeks before he put his foot down. Not a sound. He padded down the hallway, being careful to avoid the room Clark had signalled out. Instead he made his way to the room next door. It was most definitely a kids room. Gaudy pink walls, clothes scattered across the floor, and bed-side table a mess. The bed covers featured a swirling blue and purple motif he didn't recognise.

Lying in the bed, completely asleep, was a girl somewhere between 9 and 12 by Oliver's guess. Was this Reign's daughter? She certainly wasn't a hostage.

Keeping his ears peeled for any sign of a disturbance from the room over, Oliver pulled down his mask, but left the hood up. Hopefully, the girl would recognise the suit. Hesitantly, he placed a cupped hand over the sleeping child's mouth.

She jerked away instantly, eyes going wide in fear. With his free-hand, Oliver raised a finger to his lips, gesturing for quiet. The girl started heavy breathing, looking around in terror. Then she returned her focus to his face, and he tried to smile reassuringly at her. That's when she realised who he was. The terror faded instantly, the light of excitement jumping into her eyes, and Oliver was struck with a horrible thought. _'A criminal could use me, or Barry, to trick children. It would be very easy.'_

She sat up, and Oliver pulled his hand away. She opened her mouth to speak, but he gestured with the finger to his lips, and she closed her mouth once more, nodding. Bow slung over his shoulder, he lifted the girl off her bed, carrying her with arms beneath her knees and shoulders. The bed squeaked slightly, but otherwise, they made no sound. She wrapped her arms around his neck, glancing around the room, no doubt trying to figure out what the Green Arrow was doing in her bedroom in the middle of the night.

Oliver's exit from the house was not as silent as his entry, but considering he was now somewhere between 35-40 kgs heavier than when he entered, he was happy with that. He slipped out the backdoor, and the kid shifted in his arms. Trying to look back the way they came. But she didn't speak, which he was thankful for.

They reached the front of the house where Clark and Barry were waiting, and Oliver put the girl - who was now staring at the two superheroes, completely star-struck - down on the asphalt.

"Flash, can you…" Barry nodded, and in a blur of lightning, he and the girl had vanished.

Oliver took a deep breath, and drew an arrow from his quiver, the tip carefully encased in lead. He glanced to Clark.

"Go."

Superman lifted floated towards the front door, and _knocked_.

Oliver rolled his eyes, then ran towards the neighbours' house.

* * *

Kara fluttered back to consciousness, and realised, rather dumbly, that being in pain sucked.

She pulled herself upright, wincing in pain, and locked eyes on two people standing at the door to the DEO infirmary. The first was Imra - in her red and white outfit, golden hair tied in it's long braid. The second woman was significantly shorter, wearing a blue and red suit with gold piping. It looked kind of like Barry's suit. Her hair was tied into a loose pony tail, and a red mask obscured the entirety of her upper face.

"I want to help."

"I know you do Ally, so do I. But the Sage Force won't let me, and you can't be here. If Dad senses you…"

"I… I couldn't _not_ come, Els. The whole timeline has shifted. I've suffered temporal reversion twice in the past few days."

She looked nothing like Imra - far more… normal. Unruly wavy chestnut brown hair, a runners build, and she was maybe Kara's height. Slightly shorter actually.

"It's because of that bloody Nazi attack, Alex. The same thing has been happening to me…"

"No. It's something else. I think there's a greater plan at work. The Nazi attack was just the match that lit the fuse…"

She trailed off, eyes darting towards a television on the far side of the room,

"Something is coming," 'Alex' whispered. Kara tried to focus on the screen, and she couldn't help the gasp that slipped from her lips when she did. A gasp that immediately brought on a fit of coughing. A camera was fixed on Clark, Barry and J'onn fighting against Reign.

The woman spun around, and Kara caught a glimpse of two eyes; one the same blue as Kara's, the other pure white. A long, thing scar ran from her hairline, across her nose and white eye, to a jagged ear-lobe.

The mystery woman's eyes widened, then she vanished in a burst of _silver_ lightning.

Imra started to approach, but Alex, Kara's Alex, shoved her out of the way, moving to the bedside in a panic.

"Kara! Are you alright?!"

"Sore," she croaked, dismissing the girl for now, "What's happening?"

She gestured to the TV. Vibe jumped out of a breach and blasted Reign with a vibrational wave, but she ignored the shot, and blasted him back into his breach with her heat-vision. Superman then tackled Reign from behind, and they disappeared from view.

"They wouldn't tell me," Alex grumbled, "They got all secretive and left. Apparently, you have a secret hide-out you never told me about?"

Kara didn't answer. She was still fixed on the tv. Superman and Reign were grappling on a road downtown. Barry appeared then, running around the pair and kicking up a storm of lightning that blocked them from view.

"Barry… he looked like he was going to murder someone Kara." Kara flinched. She and Barry hadn't told anyone they'd gotten married by Dig. Not even Alex or Joe. They'd wanted to keep it as a special thing just for them, and not overshadow Oliver and Felicity's wedding.

"I have to help," she said, throwing off the sheets and trying to stand up. Alex placed two hands on her shoulders, trying to push her back to the bed.

"No way! You're lucky to be alive. You've got a severe concussion, fluid build-up in your lungs, and major internal bleeding. You can't go anywhere. You will die if you try."

"I can't just leave them…" Her sentence failed, as she started coughing erratically again, chest burning.

"You have to. For once, Kara, let somebody else save you."

* * *

Oliver jumped off a skyscraper, a kryptonite arrow gripped in his left hand. His bow was broken, his left shoulder was definitely crushed, and his head was still ringing from being hurled into a streetlight. Barry had only just raced him away from the fight before he'd taken a Kryptonian punch to the face. Was this what it would be like if Clark or Kara truly stopped holding back? He didn't like the place that thought took him.

Downtown National City was on fire. The Kryptonians had knocked down two buildings already since Barry had, in a desperate race, forced 'Reign' from the suburbs to prevent too much destruction. They'd managed to bring her half-way across the city before she caught their plan, and had instead attacked the nearest populated place to lure the League out. She'd succeeded.

He fell through the air as the battle raged beneath him. Reign had Superman in a choke-hold, and Flash was nowhere to be seen. Vibe was unconscious, and the Martian was running to help Superman. He wouldn't make it in time.

Oliver growled as he fell, giving away his position. Reign released Superman with a kick to the stomach and caught Oliver by the throat as he tried to stab the arrowhead through the monster's neck. She grabbed his hand, snapping the bone instantly.

"Did you honestly believe your pathetic weapons could kill me? I am justice; the vengeance of a dead world."

"You're a rabid dog," Oliver hissed, "And I'm going to put you down like one."

A sonic-boom shattered every pane of glass in a mile radius, and the Flash's fist collided point blank with Reign's jaw, carrying with it all the force of an object moving at Mach 6. Reign's head snapped back, and she, Barry and Oliver all went flying. Oliver slammed to the bitumen, Legion Ring preventing him from breaking any more bones.

He didn't let the pain get to him. Refused to. He'd spent long years learning how to ignore pain.

He rose to his feet, one arm hanging limply, his other hand practically crushed, and raced towards where Reign lay, unmoving. Barry was only a few paces away from her, unconscious. With the two fingers he could move, he grabbed the kryptonite arrow from the road and rammed the head into the monster's neck. Reign's eyes snapped open as green energy ran through her veins and she screamed in agony. Clark dropped from the sky and pounded her head into the pavement. She shut up instantly, eyes glazed over.

"Ow," Clark hissed, grabbing his chest and wincing.

"Green Arrow… how are you still walking?" J'onn exclaimed, reaching them, blood dripping from his head.

"Mental fortitude."

Oliver, disguising a wince, stepped over to Barry and placed a hand to his neck. His arm was a bloody mess, but he was still breathing.

"What do we do with her?" Clark asked, grunting as he grabbed Reign by the collar.

"The DEO can…"

"No," Oliver said sharply, moving towards Cisco, "This is League business."

"You can't be…"

"He's right J'onn. The DEO isn't equipped to handle this… whatever it is," Clark said, hefting Reign over his shoulder.

"The DEO is perfectly capable. Our job is holding fugitive aliens Superman."

Oliver ignored the two as they began bickering, and instead slapped Cisco across the face. He bolted upright, screaming, fists coming up in a gesture that wasn't at all threatening.

"You alright?"

Cisco relaxed, rubbing what looked like a broken leg.

"Yeah… next time, remind me to stay home."

Oliver snorted, then offered him a hand. He took it, eyes going to Barry.

"He'll heal. He did the… the… what-do-you call it? Where he needs the run-up?"

Cisco huffed. "The Super-Sonic Punch. He's not supposed to do that anymore. It damages the capillaries in his hand." He glanced at his friend one more time and rolled his eyes.

Clark shoved J'onn in the shoulder as the Martian approached, and black DEO sedans approached down the damaged road. Oliver grabbed Cisco's shoulder and leaned close.

"I know where Snart's Cold-Gun came from." The genius paled visibly. "You think ahead, and I respect that. You have a cell, don't you?" Cisco gulped, but nodded.

"At an off-the-books STAR facility in Keystone, where Barry would never find it."

Oliver nodded, and walked back to Clark and J'onn.

"Cisco will deal with Reign," he said, and he and Clark locked eyes. They nodded to each other, and Cisco, hobbling on his broken leg, opened a small breach in the pavement. Clark dropped Reign into the portal, which snapped closed after her. J'onn, jaw clenched, spun on his heel and made his way towards the men. Caitlin rushed past him, bolting to Barry's side with her medical bag in hand.

Clark watched them for a few minutes before his phone started ringing. He pulled it out, and winced.

"The missus?" Oliver guessed with a smirk.

"Yep."

* * *

**Three days later…**

Lena stepped into her office, the clack of her heels coming to an abrupt halt as she realised a woman was sitting opposite her desk. She was short, nerdy, with glasses and straw-blonde hair in a high-pony. Lena froze, wracking her brain. Did she have an appointment? She'd lost track of time over the last few days as she oversaw deals and directed organisations to repair the damage done in Reign's attack.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Lena said, putting on her CEO face and striding towards her desk, "It's been so busy, and I haven't slept in days."

The blonde jumped, standing up and smiling at her.

"Oh, that's alright. We've dealt with our fair share of disasters in Starling City, I understand."

The penny dropped.

"You're Felicity Smoak, CEO of Smoak Technologies, formally Palmer Technologies, formerly Queen Consolidated."

Felicity beamed again.

"Yep. That's me. Nice to meet you." She offered her hand, and Lena took it warmly. This woman had an infectious way about her. You couldn't help but smile in her presence.

"So," Lena said, shaking her head as if to clear it, and smiling in turn, "What brings you to National City?"

She knew of Felicity Smoak. There weren't many women in business who didn't. An IT technician turned secretary, who'd taken over from Ray Palmer after his not-death in a laboratory accident. She'd almost lost the company when she was crippled, but, with a team of dedicated scientists, had managed to recover not only Palmer Tech, but the use of her legs as well.

"Well, I'm actually just the herald, but I think we'd get along great, and we should definitely work together in the future. Us bad-ass women ought to stick together after all."

Lena frowned. "A herald?"

"For me." Her desk chair spun around, revealing a man in a green leather suit and hood. A compound bow sat on the couch beside him. Lena couldn't help the twin rushes of excitement and anxiety that flooded through her.

"The Green Arrow. I had wondered where you got your gear. Now I don't."

Felicity winked at her.

"Believe it or not, he started out with just a rusty recurve-bow and a robin-hood fetish."

The Green Arrow scowled at her.

"I did not."

Felicity poked her tongue out at him, and Lena raised an eyebrow.

"Well, what can I do for you."

The Arrow looked her over for a few seconds, before sighing.

"I apologise in advance, but I did have Overwatch here compile a pretty comprehensive background check before I came here."

Now it was Lena's turn to smirk.

"Really? How flattering. Find anything a basic google search couldn't have told you?"

"You're a good person."

Lena blinked. That… had not been anywhere near what she'd been expecting.

"Your company finances are all clean. You've spent millions repairing the damage to this city. You protected Catco from Morgan Edge, and you helped us against the Daxamites last year." He paused, steeling himself. "Normally, that wouldn't have been enough for me. Not given who your family is. But Kara trusts you. Without question. And that's enough."

Lena couldn't help the soft smile that crossed her lips.

"Supergirl, Superman, now the Green Arrow. Kara certainly gets around."

Now it was Felicity's turn to chuckle. "You have no idea."

"Ms Luthor, the Justice League needs your help."

"For what?"

Green Arrow nodded to Felicity, and she pulled out her phone and sent off a quick text. A second later, a shimmering blue and silver portal burst into existence on her balcony. Felicity and the Green Arrow both stood up and walked through without hesitation. Then Lena, knowing full well what she was doing was completely stupid, and that Lex would have her head, followed them.

She emerged in an underground facility, judging by the concrete walls and lack of windows. The walls were lined instead with metal tables, covered in scientific equipment. Everything in the room was tinted red by enormous lights in the roof, floor and walls. Superman stood in the corner, two Green Lanterns beside him. A few paces away, before a number of monitors, stood Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramone, whom Lena had worked with to create the Lead Bomb in Metropolis.

On the far side of the room, in a cell with walls of rippling red energy, was Lena's wayward CFO.

"Sam!" Lena exclaimed, ignoring everything else in the room and rushing towards the cell.

"Lena!"

"No don't!" Superman barked, and a wall of green-energy formed in the air between Lena and the cell. She crashed into it, and the light clung to her like toffee.

"Lena, please! You have to tell them! I'm not a monster! Please!"

"What the hell is going on?!" Lena snapped, prying herself free from the light.

"Ms Luthor," Superman said gruffly, "I'd like the record to say that I was against trusting you, but I was outvoted." Caitlin stepped out from behind the monitors and grabbed Lena's arm, helping her free from the light.

"You're an expert with alien biology Lena. I can't help her own my own. I don't know how."

The African-American Green Lantern let the construct vanish, and Lena stumbled free into Caitlin's arms.

"What do you mean? Someone start explaining!"

Green Arrow stepped up beside her and offered a tablet.

"Lena!"

Lena clicked play on the video, and watched as Sam, dressed in Reign's suit, tried in vain to escape the prison. She blasted heat-vision at the walls, tried to burrow through the ground. She screamed murder and hate. And then, after stumbling directly into the shield and getting violently electrocuted, she fell to the ground, and the red tint to her eyes faded away.

When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes. Sam's face was covered in utter panic and pure fear.

"What… I don't understand."

"Neither do we," Caitlin said, "but a brain scan revealed symptoms concurrent with chronic schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder, and her body can only metabolise sunlight while the Reign personality is in command. I hope that, with your help, we can isolate the two personalities, and kill Reign while saving Sam."

Lena nodded pursing her lips and turning away from her crying friend.

"I'll do whatever I can."


	11. Green Lantern's Light Part 1

_We're really sorry this took so long to get done, but we've had some really shit past few months. Read the AN at the end of the chapter for an updated schedule. We've also cleaned up the two previous chapters._

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S3EP18 - GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT

**March 2018**

_"Previously, on Supergirl…_

_With the help of Legionnaires Artemis (former Green Arrow protégée Evelyn Sharpe), Mon-El, Brainiac 5, and Saturn Girl (a 23-year-old version of Kara and Barry's adopted daughter Ellie from the future, who is calling herself Imra Ardeen), Supergirl and the Martian Manhunter have stopped three Worldkillers. The first, Reign, remains imprisoned in a secret Justice League facility, where Lena Luthor and Caitlin Snow are desperately trying to separate the personalities of Samantha Arias and Reign. The second, Purity, is missing; her whereabouts unknown. The final worldkiller, Pestilence, is dead. Murdered by Artemis with a plasma-bow. In outrage, Kara sent the Legionaries back to the future aboard their ship. Unbeknownst to her, Mon-El stayed behind and is now hiding in National City._

_Furthermore, M'gann M'orzz, who recently relocated from Metropolis to spend time with J'onn J'onzz and his ailing father M'yrrn, stumbled across the remnants of Arthur Coville's 'Cult of Rao'. After helping a woman extricate herself from the Cult, M'gann discovered that the cult members had in their possession a mineral from Krypton - a form of Kryptonite called Harun-El. Believing that this new Kryptonite could perhaps counter the Worldkillers, Winn Schott seeks out Mon-El to use his Timeship to scan nearby space for any potential other deposits of the mineral."_

* * *

Kara sat on a couch in her loft, snuggled into Barry's side. Ellie was nestled between Barry's legs, eyes fixed on the television, which was showing _'Thor: Ragnarok.'_ Ellie had only recently discovered the existence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, thanks primarily to Ruby, and now insisted on watching all the movies in order. She was, however, only allowed to continue her movie binge on the weekends, because after watching each movie, she would call up Cisco in a frenzy and gush about it. The utter nerd entirely encouraged such practices, and they often broke down into hour-long discussions about… well everything really. Kara had lost count. Kara herself had only seen a few of the movies, and didn't really care that much about them. Why did she need fake superheroes and supervillains when there were plenty of real-life ones? She'd much rather watch Star-Trek, but she was holding off on binging the show with Ellie until she was older. Thanks to her telepathy, Ellie was far smarter and mature than most, if not all, girls her age. Being able to simply 'download' concepts direct from peoples brains helped in that regard. Though ironically she struggled with maths; not being as good with abstract, meaningless numerical values. It amused Alex to no end.

Cisco and Winn, it should be noted, had been banned from Ellie's physical presence until she finished her marathon, lest either of the nerds accidentally spoil anything for her. Barry, being the only one of them immune to Ellie's powers, was permitted only as long as he didn't think too hard about the movie they were watching at the time. Kara's solution to this problem was simple. After all, she could be a _very_ good distraction for him when she wanted to be.

On the other side of the couch sat Alex, also intent on the TV. She, like Kara, had never particularly cared for superhero movies, but since Ellie had started this madness with Iron Man, Alex had been as engrossed as Cisco and Ellie were, often joining them in their… well, Alex called them debates, Kara called the shouting matches. Only, Alex didn't really care about the characters - except perhaps the Black Widow, as Kara couldn't help but notice the uptick of Alex's heartbeat whenever the spy appeared. She cared about the science. She spent the entire movie with a notebook in her hand, writing down what the movies got right, vs what they got utterly wrong. Suffice to say, only superspeed had stopped the remote from ending up embedded in Kara's television when they watched_ 'Ant-Man'_.

The final occupants of Kara's loft that night were J'onn and M'gann. The Martians sat at Kara's dining table, talking together quietly in the Martian-Language. Kara didn't know what the conversation was about, though she could have eavesdropped with her Legion Ring.

"I thought Thor was just an alien with a superpowered hammer," Alex was saying as Kara traced copies of her' S' sigil, intersected with Barry's lightning bolt, into his bare arm, "Why can he still use his lightning without it?"

"It's the Odinforce, duh! Now shush! Loki's about to come back!" Ellie snapped, practically bouncing against Barry's legs. If there was one thing Kara was worried about when it came to these Marvel movies, besides Alex's rather unnatural infatuation, it was Ellie's obsessive love of Loki. If this kept up, she'd need to keep an eye on her daughter, or she may very well end-up dating her first supervillain instead of punching him.

Ellie whipped her head towards Kara, eyes violet, and poked out her tongue. Kara reciprocated, blowing a raspberry for good measure. Ellie giggled, but then Hulk appeared, Kara's daughter screamed like a One-Direction fan, and she was once again consumed by the movie.

They sat like that once more for several minutes before Kara's phone started buzzing in her pocket. _Better be Lena,_ she thought sourly. Lena had been incredibly elusive lately, missing lunches or sleep-overs; even declining most of Kara's requests for interviews or quotes. If she didn't know better, she'd think she'd done something to offend her friend. But she did know better, because Sam was equally busy and impossible to reach, so she understood that Lena was just very focussed on whatever her latest project was. That didn't change the fact that, if the two women didn't get their acts together soon, Kara, Alex and Maggie would be staging an intervention.

She pulled out her phone and rolled her eyes as she saw Cisco's caller ID.

"Cisco, she isn't finished yet, you have to wait…

_"It's not that. You need to get over here, both of you, and fast. John Stewart just showed up at STAR Labs… He says Hal Jordan is missing."_

Several trips at superspeed later (Cisco couldn't get those teleports finished fast enough), Kara was standing in the Cortex at STAR Labs, arms folded, Barry on one side and Alex and J'onn on the other. Standing in the middle of the room, looking quite awkward, was John Stewart, second Green Lantern of Sector 2184.

John was not a member of the Justice League. In fact, he stayed away from the League and it's members whenever possible. As a result, they knew very little about him at all. Only that he'd been selected as the replacement for Hal's partner when he'd gone rogue almost a year ago.

"What's happened?" Kara asked, dispensing with the pleasantries. The man didn't want anything to do with them? Kara could respect that. It didn't mean she wanted anything to do with him either. But Hal was her friend, even if he said next to nothing of his past and spent most of his time off-world. If he was in trouble, there was nothing that would stand in her way.

John bit his lip, then started pacing around the Cortex.

"We were on Ungara, deflecting a comet that was going to destroy the planet and wipe out 13 billion people…" Cisco sucked in a breath, whispering, "thirteen billion," to Caitlin, who's jaw had fallen open.

"But Hal received an urgent message from the Guardians, telling him to head for the Vega System immediately. That was a week ago, and he hasn't checked in since, and his ring isn't responding." John shivered, then held out his hand. The ring on his finger glowed, and a hologram of a solar-system appeared over their heads.

"The Vega System is the most-war-ravaged region of space this side of the Virgo Supercluster. It sits right on the border between Sector 2814 and Sector 2813, Sinestro's old beat. Hell, Vega is the whole reason Sector 2814 gets two Lanterns, most places only get one."

He took a deep breath, then continued on.

"An ancient civilisation, one that predates the Green Lantern Corps, used the twelve terrestrial planets of the Vega System as a testing ground for experimentation. They were trying to create life itself."

Kara bit her lip.

"And they succeeded. Several times. And each time they came closer and closer to creating lifeforms that were perfect mirror images of themselves - what we would call human."

"Once they succeeded, these 'Ancients' just up and left. But they left behind an enormous city and most of the technology within it. Now, several thousands of years later, there are _seven_ different intelligent species in the system fighting over ten planets, and every couple of hundred years, something new happens to disturb the balance."

He waved his ring, and each planet in the system illuminated in order as he spoke.

"The first planet in the system, Dakara, where the Ancient City now lies, is a dead world. No one has been able to get inside the Citadel - that's what the people of Vega call the City - in two and a half thousand years. It's protected by an energy shield and guarded by these things called Darkstars. Intelligence suggests that they're actually dead bodies locked inside nanotech suits, controlled by the artificial intelligence of the Citadel itself."

Kara went pale, and Barry ran a hand through his hair.

"The second planet, Karna, is the homeworld of the Gordanians."

"We have two Gordanian slavers locked in the DEO," J'onn said, "Their race has a deplorable reputation."

"It's well earned. Most of them are utter assholes. But they were behind the last big debacle in Vega, and still haven't recovered. The problem this time is over the planet Okarra."

John zoomed in to the fifth, sixth and seventh planets.

"Okarra is a planet rich in almost every mineral you can think of. It's incredibly valuable, and the races of Vega have been fighting over it since they first went to space. For the past two years, the planet has been embroiled in a major Civil-War between the Tamaraneans from the planet Tamaran, and the Xanshin from nearby Xanshi. These two are the last species created by the Ancients, the two closest to human."

"I met a Tamaranean woman once," Kara said, "On Krypton. My dad met with her one day, a couple of years before the planet was destroyed. I… don't know why, or who she was."

"Do they look human?" Alex asked. Kara shrugged.

"Sort of. They're humanoid, but about seven feet tall, have burnt orange skin, green eyes and can fly." Alex's jaw fell open.

"Don't forget the flaming hair," J'onn added, and Barry facepalmed.

"Oh yeah. Their hair bursts into flame. Shouldn't forget that."

"The Xanshin are more human-looking," John assured them, before looking down at the ground, "though their bodily proportions are rather exaggerated…"

"Why not just go looking for Jordan yourself?" J'onn asked, leaning forward on the Cortex console.

John looked back up at them, gaze unyielding. "I've never been to Vega before. Hal has the experience there; Sinestro taught him how the place works. If I go in blind… I might just make matters worse. Hal never shuts up about how good you guys are, so I came here to ask for your help."

The group of superheroes looked about one another. Not a word was said, but they understood all the same.

"I'll go," Kara said, "J'onn and M'gann can handle Purity if she shows up again. Barry needs to stay here to deal with the Thinker. I'll help you find Hal."

"If you're going then I'm coming too," Alex said, hand dropping to the gun at her waist, "It's about damn time I go to their turf for a change. Plus, Jordan still owes me from the last time he was in town."

Barry placed a hand on Kara's shoulder, and a jolt of lightning ran through her. The world slowed to a crawl, and Kara's hearing vanished as they shifted into Flashtime. She allowed herself a few seconds of blissful silence, before turning towards her husband.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Positive. I'm the best choice and the logical one. I have to go." Barry looked into her eyes for a few seconds.

"I trust you. Just come back to me, alright?"

She smiled softly, then pulled him in for a kiss.

"Always."

Barry let go, and the world returned to normal speed. Kara locked eyes with J'onn, who nodded, accepting her plan.

"Thank you," John said, smiling for the first time since they'd arrived at STAR.

"Well, if you're going into space, you aren't going unprepared," Cisco announced. Then he spun on his heel and rushed off down a corridor. The assembled heroes followed him to his workshop, arriving just in time to watch as he wheeled two mannequins out from a corner.

"Holy Rao," Kara whispered as Alex went slack beside her.

The new suit on display was similar, yet completely different to her last. The chest piece was slightly smaller, framed better over her chest, but the skirt was gone. In its place were metallic pants, a deep red, falling down to meet with a new set of boots, blue to match the bodice. The boots were similar to Barry's, but instead of flaring outwards at the back, hers flared upwards at the sides, tracing the curve of her leg. The belt was thinner again, still gold, but it now had the diamond shape at the peak. Both the ends of the sleeves and the tops and soles of the boots were trimmed in identical gold. The cape had transformed once again. Now, instead of hanging over her shoulders, it folded around her neck, creating a v-neck collar she could adjust as she wished. The cape's shape was like an elongated teardrop, tapering to a point just above her ankles. It had more volume than she was used to, and she realised it was so she could actually pin it around her like a wrap or cocoon. The edges were also trimmed in gold, and if she looked close enough, she realised they were actually Kryptonian glyphs. What did they…

_'My name is Kara Zor-El. I am the last daughter of the dead planet Krypton, and I am a refugee. I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin. But my pod got knocked off course, and by the time I got here, my cousin had already grown up and become... Superman. I hid who I really was until one day when an accident forced me to reveal myself to the world. To most people, I'm Kara Danvers, a reporter at CatCo Worldwide Media, wife of Barry Allen, and mother of my daughter Ellie. But in secret, I'm a member of the Justice League, and I work with my adoptive sister at the DEO to protect this planet I call my home from anyone that means it to cause it harm. I am Supergirl.'_

"It's beautiful," Kara whispered, "Thank you, Cisco… truly."

Cisco blushed.

"Oh it's nothing. I've been working on it since Reign destroyed my last suit. I know you've been wearing your old one for the past month or so, but I wanted to make sure this was perfect first. I had Sara give me everything from the Legion database about Kryptonian dress, so I could make it as accurate as possible. I tried to get the actual body piece to wrap more, but it impeded movement too much, so I decided the cape would work well enough. I also used the Kryptonian style for Alex's suit. Figured it matched…"

Kara blinked, tearing her eyes away from the gorgeous suit to fix on the second mannequins, which she'd completely forgotten was there.

Alex's suit was a dark navy blue, almost black. It was less metallic than Kara's was - it didn't need lead panelling like hers did - more formfitting like Sara's suit. Nor did it have a cape. But it did have a skirt of sorts. Starting at the waist and tapering out around the knees, it framed the suit's hips and hid a golden belt from open view, but it didn't cover her front. It was actually more like a tail than a skirt, or a cape that started at the waist and ended below the knees. Sewn within the inside of the skirt, which was a deep red, were dozens of pockets for small knives and throwing stars, and it also protected the extra cartridges on the belt from coming free or being pulled off. A small diamond shape, identical to the belt on Kara's suit, was framed by the point where the skirt tapered apart. Two gun-holsters adorned suit's thighs. The collar was also quite high and lined with dark gold metal.

"If you tap the collar, an emergency helmet will form - I borrowed Ray's nanites. It'll protect you from potentially dangerous toxins, or, if you're going into space, I suppose, vacuum. The suit can filter oxygen for you to breathe, but you'll need a tank if you're in space for longer than a few minutes.

Alex stepped carefully up to Cisco, then pulled him into a hug and started crying on his shoulder. The poor guy looked absolutely petrified. Kara took pity on him and eased Alex free, replacing his shoulder with her own. Letting Alex sob into her clothes instead.

"You're part of the crew now Alex. 100%."

"I am going to kick some serious alien _ass._"

The two sisters separated, and Kara turned to the assembled heroes.

"Clear the room. We're going to suit up."

* * *

Kara, Alex and J'onn followed John Stewart into the sewers of National City. They didn't speak. It seemed… rude somehow, to disturb the silence.

After about a ten minute walk, the Green Lantern brought them to a dry and well-lit tunnel. At the end of the pipe was a ladder. Alex watched with no small degree of envy as she climbed down the ladder and the others floated. Kara couldn't help but giggle at her, which earned a scowl in return. At the base of the ladder was a large antechamber, with rows of seats arching down to a stage at the bottom. The cement was old and cracked, and stalactites hung from the roof, the dripping of water adding to the ambience. The scent of mould was heavy in the air. A dozen or more aliens lay wrapped in thin blankets in the bleachers. Gornians, Laraxians, Durlans… you name it, they were there. Homeless and alone.

But Kara's eye couldn't help being drawn towards the structure atop the stage. It was an enormous gateway made from solid grey stone with swirling patterns within it. It was a perfect ring shape, though a section at the bottom was embedded within the stage itself. Separating the outside of the ring from the inside was a track of silver metal, with dozens of glyphs etched in a single line following the curvature of the ring itself. Each rune was distinguished from the one beside it, sitting in a divided rectangle of the track. Situated at equal distances from each other around the circumference were large triangles that hung over both the exterior grey metal and the silver track of glowing symbols.

"So this is how most of the alien's get to Earth," Alex whispered, "I'd always assumed they all came by ship."

"I think we'd detect that many ships relatively easily don't you?" J'onn noted, shaking his head at his number two.

"It's called a Stargate," John said, leading the group towards the stone ring. Several people scattered around the underground cavern looked up at Kara as she passed, and she smiled and waved back at them. It was the least she could do for them.

"The Ancients built a network of them across the Milky Way Galaxy long ago. They can take you practically anywhere."

"We had one on Mars," J'onn said, "it was the first place the White Martians targeted. My first job was as a security guard there. When I escaped the death camps, I used the Stargate to come here. I tried to use it to go back sometime later, but couldn't get a lock. The Whites had destroyed it…" he trailed off, staring at the portal device in thought. But Kara was frowning now.

"Krypton didn't have one. I… I've never heard of a Stargate before." Why _hadn't _Krypton had one of these devices if they were so common?

John shrugged. "I don't know. The Ancients only put Stargates on planets they deemed habitable. Maybe Krypton was too toxic for them, so they didn't bother?"

He stepped up to a second device in front of the gateway. Shaped like a mushroom, the metallic device was covered in the same glyphs the ring was, patterned in two circles around a large golden half-sphere in the centre of the device. John started pushing the symbols, and the chevrons on the Stargate illuminated one by one in a clockwise manner.

"They're constellations," Alex realised, pointing at the glyphs. John pressed a seventh symbol, and the chevron at the peak of the ring, snapped open with a clang, then clamped closed once more. Then he pushed the half-circle, and a wall of water exploded out of the ring, roaring through the cave. The water, energy, whatever it was, flared outwards, before being sucked back into the ring itself and forming a rippling surface of mesmerising blue.

"Wow…" Kara whispered.

"Straight ticket to the planet Okarra," John said, pursing his lips. Alex took a deep breath and drew Barry's Legion ring from her pocket. She'd borrowed the device so that she'd be able to breathe regardless of the atmosphere on Okarra.

"Good luck girls," J'onn said, pulling both of them into a quick hug. He let them go, nodded his farewell, then turned and started making his way towards the surface. Kara, Alex and John stepped up to the rippling portal, shimmering with blue light. Kara reached out and, hesitantly, tapped the event-horizon. It squelched slightly under her touch, creating a series of ripples that radiated out before fading.

"Any tips?" Alex asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Don't hold you're breath. It's not water, even if it looks like it. And you'll exit at the same velocity you entered with, so don't run, just walk."

The Green Lantern squared his shoulders, then stepped through the puddle and vanished. Kara looked to Alex and mirrored her sister's dazzling smile. Then they clasped hands and stepped through.

They emerged into a war zone. Gunshots tore through the heavy air, soaring across a scorched no-mans-land that seemed to stretch for miles. There were no trees, no signs of civilisation. But there was a row of what had to be tanks fast approaching. Gathered around the foot of the stone pedestal the Stargate stood atop, were perhaps a hundred people, all taller than her, dressed in rags with burnt orange skin and hair that actually tapered into flickering flames.

Kara didn't know who was in the right or who was in the wrong in this conflict. She didn't know the stakes. But she did know that the sun beaming down on her right now was yellow. She could feel its power invigorating her. And she knew refugees when she saw them.

Kara rushed down the stairs as the Stargate disengaged with a soft whooshing sound, and the gathered Tamaraneans all shied away from her. Then they saw John. A Green Lantern they recognised. John and Alex followed her, immediately asking questions of what was happening, trying to get answers and see if anyone was gravely injured. Kara advanced through the crowd, aiming for who she assumed was the groups' leader. Standing beside an identical mushroom-shaped dialling device embedded in the white and black dirt, was a tall woman in torn purple clothing that actually contrasted rather well with her skin. Her hair, like the others, tapered to flame at the ends, and her eyes were entirely green—no irises or whites.

"Who are you supposed to be?" The woman said, the Legion Ring translating for her.

"I'm Supergirl," Kara said, stopping beside the woman and looking out towards the approaching line of tanks. They looked not dissimilar to earth tanks, or similar heavy-duty mobile weaponry from Krypton. She supposed that made sense.

"What in X-Hal's name are you doing?"

"Right now?" Kara asked, shooting the woman a smile, "I'm saving your buts. Get your charges off-world. I'll deal with these guys."

The woman rolled her eyes and was about to say something - no doubt berating her for being stupid - when Kara shot into the sky, powered up her eyes, and started carving a line between the tanks and the Stargate. To her credit, the Tamaranean resumed dealing the Stargate without more than a few seconds bewilderment.

"I don't care what your war is about," Kara yelled. She didn't know if the tank drivers or the troops inside could hear her, but if they could, this was their warning. "But targeting the weak and the helpless? That makes you the villain. Every time."

For a few moments, silence reigned over the barren plain. Then the Stargate burst to life, and the tanks all trained the canons on Kara. Great. So it was a day for punching.

Kara shot towards the tank in the centre of the line, dodging a blast of electricity from its canon. She could probably absorb it, but better safe than sorry. She weaved around three more shots - the others went wide - and landed right in front of the machine. Then she picked it up with absolutely no effort, and hurled it through the air, back the way it had come. A distant and dull crunching sound was the only indication it landed. Next. She gave the tank on her left a single good punch that crumpled the metal - mustn't be very advanced - and seemed to completely stall it. She turned right, just in time for a canon to train on her face. She jumped over the turret as it released another shot, which slammed into the tank she'd just disabled, making it explode. She landed on the cannon barrel, then ripped it free and used it like a cricket bat, crunching it into the side of the tank that tried to shoot her. It crumpled like paper. She walked over the top as a hatch on the roof was thrown open with a metallic clang, and a man with dark skin and pink eyes frantically crawled out, training an energy weapon on her. Kara let her new suit absorb the blast, which it did flawlessly, well done Cisco, then grabbed the man and tossed him behind her. She reached the other side of the tank and smirked. The two other machines had turned tail and were driving away as fast as possible. She turned around to check the other side, and was pleased to not they were doing so as well. A flash of green caught her eye, and she turned back to the Stargate as John landed on the ground beside her.

"You may have just made this a whole lot worse," he said, though it didn't seem to have any malice or disapproval to it, so that was a point in his favour.

"Don't care," she said frankly, then she floated up into the air and made her way back towards the Stargate. Most of the refugees were through, and Alex was talking to the leader woman, who was practically beaming at Kara.

"That… that was _amazing! _How did you do that?"

"Part of my amazing wits and charm," Kara said. The woman shook her head, chuckling softly as Kara landed on the ground.

"I am Koriand'r, captain of the Tamaranean ship Starfire-3." She winced. "Well, I _was_. We were evacuating the last resident refugees when we were shot down. I managed to get the survivors across the plain to the Stargate…" She took a breath then performed what was obviously a local greeting; closed eyes, a bow, and hand over heart. Kara made sure to ignore the fact that the tattered remains of the captain's uniform did not do much to hold in her rather impressive bosom.

"Your Alex says you search for the Green Lantern? Hal Jordan?"

"Yes," Kara said, smirking inwardly at the 'your Alex' comment. She glanced to Alex, who was blushing something fierce. She was having a much harder time not looking at the alien's impressive figure. "Can you help us?"

Koriand'r nodded.

"I know where he is… or at least, where he was going. He has been helping evacuate the refugees, from all three sides. Come with me back to Tamaram, and I'll tell you all I know."

Kara nodded, and together, the four of them walked through the Stargate once more.

* * *

"He's gone _where?!"_ John exclaimed, jaw falling open in utter shock.

The three Earth-bound heroes were currently standing in a majestic temple building, overlooking an immaculate garden of trees with golden leaves. Sixty feet tall - easily the most prominent structure in the city - a statue of a woman wreathed in flames looked over the entire planet of Tamaran. It was a small world, Kara was quickly coming to realise. The curvature of the horizon was far more noticeable than on Earth, and she could see neighbouring Okarra in the night sky. Tamaran was probably the size of Earth's moon… maybe a little smaller. And it had no moons of its own. Aside from the obviously alien nature of its inhabitants and skyline, the city Koriand'r had brought them too was incredibly familiar. In fact, it almost felt like a hybrid of Krypton and Earth architecture. They were obviously less technologically advanced, with the buildings she'd seen so far made from metal or some local variant of brick. But she'd yet to see any sign of suburbia or urban scrawl like on Earth. The buildings were all large multi-story affairs - though oddly enough, no skyscrapers. If she had to guess, each one would house entire extended families, or perhaps guilds like they had on Krypton.

"We captured a Darkstar trying to infiltrate the New Kingdom Hall," Kori's sister, Komand'r said. The two women looked so alike it was uncanny, except for one difference. Komand'r had pitch-black hair with flickering purple flames, where Kori's was bright red. Komand'r was apparently next in line for the Tamaranean throne, a skilled general, and a well-known ruler. Indeed, Kara thought she possessed that natural charisma that all good leaders had that just couldn't be taught. It was… weird, seeing it reflected back at her. Unsettling even.

"Well… captured is a strong word. It is only thanks to Lantern Jordan that we discovered the intrusion at all. The creature was completely immune to our scanners and security. Our security teams succeeded in defeating it, but it self-destructed before we could get any information out of it."

"What we do know," Kori picked up, pacing around the long table in the centre of the room. Hovering above the table was a holographic rendering of the solar system, "is that the machine was trying to access the Royal quarters. Lantern Jordan guessed that its intention was to kill the King, and we agree. Jordan left, intending to travel to the Citadel and confront the Darkstar Hive mind. If our ancient enemies have aligned themselves with the Xanshi… our position would become very perilous indeed."

"So Hal has gone flying half-cocked into what might be a sentient alien city overrun by robot corpses?" Alex asked, rubbing her forehead.

"In simple terms," Kori admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "I would have gone with him, but we got an emergency signal from one of our enclaves on Okarra, and I had little choice but to fly out there immediately."

Kara massaged her temples.

"Can you take us to the Citadel now?"

Kori and Komand'r locked eyes, having a conversation without words in that way only sisters could. Then they turned back.

"Yes."

* * *

Kara stood on the deck of the Starfire-4, hands clasped behind her back, staring out the main-viewer into the space beyond. The Tamaranean vessel was nowhere near as advanced as the other star-ships Kara had used. For starters, it didn't even have a hyperspace engine, instead using FTL based technology. Even the Kryptonians - notorious xenophobes that they were - had hyperdrives. Kara's own pod had been fitted with one. While she was certainly no expert, she knew that hyperdrives were far superior, as they allowed a ship to travel through folded subspace, rather than normal space - turning what would be a year's long journey into a trip taking a few days. The FTL engines this ship used kept the Starfire in normal space, which meant lots of careful navigating and maths to avoid ploughing into things. It certainly looked cool, though.

A wave of blue-white fluorescent energy rolled off the ship's prow as they soared closer and closer to the nearby sun, like a surfboard disturbing the surface of a wave. Kara had never seen anything like it before. It was utterly transfixing.

"What's powering the ship?" Alex asked from behind Kara. She was standing beside Kori, John and her crew.

"X'Light."

Kara flinched. She'd had a feeling.

"X'Light? What's that?" Alex asked.

"You don't want to know," Kara said.

"Uh, yeah, I do. That's kind of why I asked."

Kori chuckled softly to herself.

"It isn't as dangerous as you think, Kara Zor-El. Our Light is not as… volatile as Rosharan Stormlight." Kara rolled her eyes, deliberately not thinking about the Legion Ring adorning Alex's finger.

"It doesn't matter if your Light is Stormlight or not. It's all Investiture in the end; which means it's all equally dangerous."

"Investiture is only dangerous if you use it wrong. It's just a tool…"

"You clearly haven't figured out what the rest of the universe did then," Kara snapped, getting particularly annoyed now. She spun around and fixed Kori with a glare. "There is an excellent reason very few races dare use Light."

Kori didn't look angry. Only curious. "Why?"

Kara looked to John, who was resolutely staring at the ground.

"Well Green Lantern? Are you going to tell her?"

John mumbled something, and though Kara heard it with her enhanced hearing, the others didn't, so she kept staring at him.

"It's against the Guardian's decree to help species advance beyond their level of development, Supergirl. You know that."

"Oh for fuck's sake, one of you spit it out already!" Alex demanded, folding her arms with a frown.

"Investiture, Alex, is the scientific name for what you'd call magic," John finally said, "It's the energy of everything, pulled directly from the Source. Across the cosmos, it's usually called Light."

"It's living power," Kara continued, "The source-code of reality. The magic Constantine and Zatanna use is temporary, it only exists as long as they maintain their connections to the Source. Investiture is magic pulled into the physical world and left here. Unbound. To be used at will by anyone. As a result, it has a tendency to develop Intent, and that Intent leads to…"

Kori gasped, the pieces fitting together. "X'Hal! Sentience! Light is alive!?"

"Sort of," John admitted, now scowling at Kara. "It's not as bad as Kara is making it out to be."

"It really is."

"No, it's not. It takes a long time for Light to develop true awareness."

"Wait a second," Alex said, stepping up to John and grabbing his hand, scrutinising his Lantern Ring. "This thing is alive?"

"No. But the Central Battery on Oa is fuelled by the Green-Light of Willpower. That's it's Intent: Will. And there is an entity, Ion, born of Will, that governs the use of that Light. The rings are like extensions of that mind. They have a cognitive aspect - they search for new hosts once their bearers die - but they aren't alive."

"Every time a race discovers Light and tries to use it, the _same_ thing happens," Kara said smugly. "The Investiture forms an Intent and comes alive. Roshar is just the worst example. The entire universe is lucky that Odium can't leave that system, or he'd kill us all."

The temperature of the bridge seemed to rise for a few moments when Kara spoke the word.

"Odium? What is Odium?" Kori whispered, rubbing her arms, where goosebumps had formed.

"Pray you never find out."

"That's enough, Kara!" John snapped. "You have no right to tell anyone what they use and what they don't. Light is just as dangerous as electricity, and it wasn't Investiture that destroyed Krypton. That was your own greed."

Kara huffed, turning back to the viewscreen. She didn't care what John said. Light was dangerous, and now Kori knew that. Maybe they'd be more careful using it in the future. Her father had told her stories of Roshar as a child; tales of Honour, Cultivation and Odium, and the horrible desolations their Lights had inflicted upon the peoples of that world. Nothing had ever terrified her more.

A few hours later, the helmsman announced their arrival, and Alex came up beside her at the screen to watch. The fluorescent energy seemed to _bend_ around the ship as they decelerated, and the wave of light rolling off the prow vanished in a burst of power. True space came back into view, and Kara found her gaze fixed on a dead world. A barren rock silhouetted behind a bright yellow star. It was, perhaps, the size of Mercury, and it was so small she could actually _see_ the Citadel on its grey surface. A city, shaped like a snowflake with six arms, dotted with soaring silver towers. The entire structure was enveloped in a transparent, shimmering shield of energy, and it was only under the dome that any colour existed: green grass, and yellow lights in the towers.

"Wow…" Alex muttered.

"It is impressive,' Kara agreed.

"No signs of danger, Captain," the helmsman said. "Either they're ignoring us, or can't see us."

"Most likely the former," Kori said, biting a lock of flaming hair.

"Right then; let's find Hal and go home," Kara said. Then she turned on her heel and strode towards the elevator, Alex and John following behind.

Getting into the Citadel was actually far easier than Kara thought it would be. Using the Legion Ring and the upgraded suits Cisco had provided, Kara, Alex and John were catapulted from the Starfire's airlock into the depths of space. Their momentum preserved, the trio shot through the emptiness, hurtling towards the City. The oddest thing, for Kara at least, was the lack of sound. Moving at high speeds wasn't exactly new to her or John. Alex, however, had an enormous grin splitting her face, belaying her utter glee.

Once they caught the gravity of the dead planet, Kara's flight power returned, and she grabbed Alex and started slowing down. John did so as well, forming a construct rocket head around the trio as they shot towards the energy shield. The green-Light collided with the transparent barrier, then transformed into a drill and began grinding away. Sound returned to them, and the high-pitched whistling of the shield giving way was utterly deafening. Thankfully, it didn't take long for John to open the shield just large enough to slip through. They entered, the shield snapping closed behind them, and Kara lowered Alex down towards the ground.

Still, nothing attacked them.

They touched down on a grassy slope on the outskirts of one of the six piers, and Kara disabled her helmet, letting her hair fly free. Alex did the same, whistling in awe as they looked up at the towers. Lights flickered in the windows, but they saw no signs of human life. Unwilling to disturb the eerie silence, they made their way out of the park and down what looked like the main road.

In the heart of the city sat an island separated from the rest of the structure by a ring-like moat. Standing atop the island was a tower taller than all the others; quite thin, but with a section near the peak that widened to form three protruding sections along the main structure, before thinning out again at the very top. It screamed grand and important, and Kara instantly _knew_ that this was where they needed to go. A silver-grey metal door cut like a rectangle, with a smaller square cut above it, stood out in front of them.

Kara cut the door open with her heat-vision, the door collapsing inward with a loud '_CLANG!' _and something _finally_ attacked them. A figure shaped like a man, but with skin a dull metallic silver colour, launched out the door at them. Twin swords were attached to its arms, and it wore a uniform of dark coppery red, with a helmet that hid its face. Kara dodged the blades as they came towards her, and Alex pumped two blasts of electricity from her gun into its face. The Darkstar's head exploded, but it didn't stop charging. It pivoted on the spot, luminescent orange Light pouring from it's the severed neck, and thrust towards Kara again. She grabbed the sword, intending to snap the creature's arm, but the metal bit into her hand - totally ignoring her invulnerability - and she screamed in pain. John stabbed the Darkstar through the chest with a sword of Green-Light, and it froze still, then collapsed.

Kara pulled away from the machine as it hit the ground, staring at her bleeding hand in shock.

"Kara!" Alex exclaimed, rushing to her side.

"I'm fine," she managed, watching as the wound healed as if it had never been. She looked up towards the sun, but the yellow light was beaming down on them. That _shouldn't_ have happened. Alex grabbed Kara's hand, looking for a wound, but Kara's attention fixed on the Darkstar's body. That luminescent light continued to bleed off its form for several moments, before fading away to nothing.

"Light," Kara hissed, "_magic; _no wonder it hurt me." Magic, as Clark continuously told her, could bypass her invulnerability and interrupt her powers. She usually avoided it if she could.

John knelt by the creature's corpse, analysing it with his ring.

_'Error. Foreign Light detected. By order of the Guardians, report this finding to Oa immediately.'_

"Shit," John muttered.

Alex and Kara both stepped away from the corpse. John forged a construct blade and cut a hole in the centre of the Darkstar's chest. More orange Light leaked out for several moments, before vanishing, leaving behind what was clearly a decomposing skeleton.

"The Guardians intelligence was right. Walking corpses, powered by Light. But no Light I've ever seen before." John looked into the now open hallway. Another corpse lay there, and it had been cut open just as this one had. Hal. "The Citadel itself must be _creating_ this new Light somehow; using it to power the Darkstars. But why send one to assassinate the King of Tamaran?"

Though John said no more, all three of them instantly realised why Hal had come here. He'd had the same question, and ignored the Guardians orders to return to Oa, instead entering the city with the intent to find out.

Carefully, Kara leading the way, they advanced deeper into the tower.

* * *

**The Present Day…**

Kara slowly blinked back into awareness, and immediately noticed that she was no longer in STAR Labs. The temperature had dropped drastically, and the architecture around them screamed Krypton. Also, there was snow everywhere—the Fortress of Solitude.

"Oh, good, you're finally awake."

Kara swivelled to face her cousin, who was sitting in his Superman suit a short distance away.

"What happened?" She whispered, rubbing her forehead.

"You kind of had a panic attack."

Kara's mouth went dry, and _everything_ came back to her. Ellie…

"I was hoping you could tell me why there's a Kara clone on ice in my Fortress? I mean, I know I was dead for a bit, but that seems like something you probably should have mentioned to me?"

She followed his pointed hand towards a cryo-chamber on the far side of the room. Sure enough, trapped in suspended animation, was an exact duplicate of Kara.

There was only one answer she could come up with.

"Red Daughter… this Kara saved her," she breathed. And wasn't that just another nail in the coffin? All the work she'd done trying to save her Kasnian clone… it had been for nothing in her world. Here she'd managed it, if only half-way apparently. Just another memory of this Kara Danvers she'd destroyed. Mother. Wife. Hero. Was there anything left of this world's Supergirl to save?

"I can do it," a new voice said. A voice Kara was sure she remembered, but knew she'd never heard before.

Clark was on his feet in an instant, head jerking towards the entrance, where a slim figure was walking towards them across the snow. As it approached and the light fell across her, Kara honestly couldn't say she was surprised by who was revealed. Nothing could shake her anymore today.

A young 20 something woman with shoulder-length curly brown hair and a runners build. She wore a suit, not unlike Barry's, but there was a thin scar crossing her left eye, which was entirely white in colour. The other eye, untouched, was an identical blue to Kara's own.

"Hi Mom."

"Ally? What are you doing here?" Clark demanded, relaxing. So he'd met her before. Ally? That had to be short for Alex.

"I can bring them back—all of them. If you want," Kara's daughter said again, staring resolutely into her eyes.

"How?" She begged.

"At the Forge. We can go down to it and restore your memories."

Clark started violently shaking his head. "No way! Into the Dark Multiverse?! Absolutely not! We barely survived last time and you want to go down there _again_!?"

"The Destroyer can't touch me," Ally protested. "And I'm the only one that can control the Storm. After all, I was born there."

Kara didn't understand much of what they were saying, but it didn't matter. If she could restore this world's Kara? Her decision was already made.

"Let's go."

* * *

**Authors Notes - Please Read**

Part 2 of this section should be up next week.

We really are sorry about the lack of updates for this story. 2020 is the year that just keeps on giving, because, just as my mother has started recovering from her surgery, Miracle went down with an emergency _root canal. _In better news, beta reads on our original novel are finishing up.

**Current plans:**

Betas on our _original novel_ will be back mid-December, so January will be the final revision for that book and maybe starting on the next one.

**Post **_Blessing Act II,_ the end of _Crisis: The Brave New World_, and the next _A Song of Snows and Waters _by the end of November.

**Finish** writing _Blessing Act III_ and _Lost Daughter_ by mid-December for a Christmas to New Years publication window.

**Start **Red Daughter storyline for _Crisis_ at the end of November for a pre-Christmas release.

**Updates** for _Tales from the Shadowed Abyss_ and _A Song of Snows and Waters_ will be more sporadic but should be one every two to three weeks.

**Revision. Maybe. **We've been contacted by someone who wants to do a potential Gemini Podfic/audiobook. If that does happen, we'll take the time to go back through the earlier chapters of Gemini Curse and revise them for spelling, grammar, speech and plot consistency. Don't expect it soon though, and its contingent on 2021 not sucking as much as 2020.

**Question: **Should we end this story after Reign and the Thinker's defeat and pick up with Red Daughter and the Dark Multiverse storyline in a sequel, or keep going here?

Love, Ghost and Miracle.


	12. Green Lantern's Light Part 2

SUPERGIRL: S3EP19 - Avarice (March 2019)

* * *

Hal had torn through the Darkstars like tissue paper. Entire corridors full of the walking corpses, decomposing back to dust. Fortunately, they left a clear path for Kara, John and Alex to follow. They were attacked only three times, and though Kara had to be careful to avoid any direct hits from the Darkstar weapons, they dealt with the drones with relative ease.

For Alex, the most exciting part of their adventure through Citadel was the technology on display. The Ancients had really known their stuff. Everything was automated, lights turning on as they neared then disabling when they exited. Despite being some thousands of years old, the structural integrity of the city was still intact. Perfectly so. No rusty doors, no collapsed hallways. It was a testament to engineering on a level Alex had never believed possible.

In fact, Alex was starting to think this would turn out to be easy. She should have known better.

_"Ground team, this is Koriand'r on the Starfire. Be advised we have detected two inbound Xanshin ships. They'll be here within the hour."_

"Damn it," Kara whispered.

They advanced deeper into the city, and Alex began to grow nervous. The number of Darkstar bodies had started to lessen, and… yes, there was blood on the floor now. John saw it too, though Kara seemed too absorbed in her own thoughts. Hal had been wounded.

"Ring," John muttered, hesitant to disturb the silence, "Where are we heading?"

_"Analysis of Lantern Jordan's trajectory suggests a termination point in the city's engine room."_

Sure enough, after a further few minutes of walking, they arrived in a large open room dominated by an enormous transparent spherical reactor. The roof towered at least ten levels above them, tiered with gangway after gangway. The sphere was _full_ of pulsing orange Light, just like the Darkstars outside.

Three smaller reactors, shaped like cylinders and towering up from the ground level, were visible on either side. Each tank contained a different type of Light, which appeared to be helping contain the reactor core.

The closest to where the trio had entered was a reflective white, power untempered and pure, like a thin mist. It gave off a sound too. A rhythm Alex couldn't quite understand but knew to be shifting, weaving and ever-evolving. The second contained a sluggish black smoke, giving off a music of utter stillness. A sharp and persistent rhythm that didn't once alter its pitch or tone. The third tank, the furthest away, appeared empty at first glance, but if she stared at it long enough, she could just perceive a warping to the space within. Something was there, she just couldn't see it. The rhythm of this invisible Light was charged, volatile. It peaked then plummeted through the registers she recognised so rapidly it made her ears ring—a tune of… destruction, of turmoil, and of rebirth.

Kara stumbled backwards, performing a warding gesture with her hands in the direction of the reactor and the tanks around it. Okay, there was something Alex was definitely not understanding about Kara's fear of Light.

"Heads up!" John yelled, and a dozen Darkstars descended from the roof, falling towards them with savage shrieks.

"Look!" Alex had spotted a small glass cube that she'd missed before. Hal was locked inside, strung up by his wrists and ankles.

"Go! I've got this." John thrust his ring upwards, traping the approaching Darkstars in a sphere of green. Alex, cursing under her breath, grabbed Kara by the arm and dragged her towards the cube.

"Kara, I get you don't like this stuff, but _snap_ out of it!"

Kara blinked, then started running under her own will. A vent in the roof was pumping orange Light into the cube where Hal was suspended. He was wearing ordinary clothes - a collared shirt and jeans under his flight jacket. His ring was nowhere to be found.

Kara slammed her fist into the cube, and the walls shattered like glass, raining down around them in tiny fragments. Alex ran inside as the last piece hit the ground, and cursing again, grabbed the clamps holding the unconscious Jordan in place.

She unlocked his feet, then reached for his arms. The second she touched his skin, orange light flared around her fingertips, and the engine room _vanished_.

Alex screamed, stumbling backwards, but all her senses were instantly overwhelmed. She was floating in a sea of orange. Not red, or rich gold, but stark and painful orange light. It swirled around her, convulsing, writhing… and then it touched her.

_'I could be yours. Feel my power. Isn't it glorious?'_

It… it _was_ glorious. Phenomenal in its intensity and beauty and magnificence. Infinite power. It could destroy the Worldkillers with a single gesture. Finally, Alex could stop being the one who always needed saving. Have real power. Protect the Earth! Protect the universe! Yes, it could be hers. It _was _hers. She wanted it. Needed it. Desperately, furiously, with everything she had.

The Light swirled around her, eager and inviting, pulsing, attuning to Alex's heart, feeding on her desire, her need to…

She'd been here before, hadn't she?

Craving, desperate and addicted.

Twin flashes tore through her mind. A bottle, hurled in bitter hate and anger at her own sister. Crashing her car, a second chance.

What was it Kara and John had said? Light… Investiture was magic with _Intent_. The orange Light rippled across her skin, beckoning, soothing, burrowing…

And in a split second, Alex knew this Light for what it was. She had fought a war against this power for years and years. Contained its craving deep within the recesses of her mind and heart.

It was Avarice.

"Alex!"

Alex sank to the floor of the cube, the haze of Light shattering around her and dumping her back into the real world. She threw up, violently, all over the floor.

"Oh fucking hell," she hissed, edging away from the greedy Light, which was still falling from the vent, trying to lick at Alex's fingers.

"Sucks doesn't it?" Hal croaked. He'd woken up, and was hanging limply from the one remaining shackle. His face was shallow, gaunt. When had he last ate or drank? How long had he…

Days. He'd been exposed to that hungering, desperate Light for days.

Alex had _never_ liked Hal Jordan. Never understood him or why he acted the way he did. But that… he'd survived Alex's worst nightmare for days on end and hadn't broken. Alex's respect for him shot through the roof.

Kara landed by her side, dropping half a Darkstar to the ground and ripping Hal's last shackle free. Then she grabbed Alex by the shoulders.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm okay." She wasn't. Not really. She didn't think she would be for quite a while. But she'd been strong enough to reject that thing. To throw away _infinite_ power. She could be proud of that.

The Avaricelight actually _retreated_ from Kara's presence, trying to curl up and hide. Alex would have laughed if her head wasn't ringing.

John landed on the ground outside the cube, panting, blood dripping down the side of his face.

"That… really… sucked…"

A dull _thud_ echoed through the engine room, and all four of them looked up towards the reactor above. The Light had taken the shape of an enormous, writhing snake, glistening orange, with beady black eyes that seemed to suck in everything around them. Alex resisted the urge to puke again.

"Now do you see why I hate Light!" Kara snapped. Then, for the first time in Alex's entire life, she watched as Kara lifted her hand towards the snake and displayed her middle finger at it.

_"YOU DO NOT MATTER! I WILL HAVE A VESSEL SOON ENOUGH! THIS WAR ONLY FEEDS ME! MY LIGHT WILL BE THE GREATER; MY PRISON DESTROYED!"_

"Oh shut up, Ophidian!" Hal growled, rolling his eyes despite being unable to stand up.

"Ophidian?" John asked. He looked very uncomfortable, ring pointed at the reactor cage as the snake slammed against it once more.

"Yeah. Found the data in one of the computers before the buggers got me from behind. The Ancients trapped this thing here. Ophidian: the entity of Greed and Avarice. It's a massive chunk of living Light. John…" He still looked deathly weak, but his gaze held within it an anger Alex didn't like.

"The Guardians _lied_ to us."

"I don't understand."

"They've been saying for years that Will was the only emotional Light. That never sat with me. We've seen Lights form around other Intents before. The universe is full of them. When Sinestro created his fear ring, I started to question. I wondered if there were other Lights or entities that the Guardians were deliberately suppressing. Lights more powerful than ours. This thing is one of them, and I think its the reason why the races of Vega are always at war."

Ophidian slammed against the reactor again.

_"THE GUARDIANS ARE PATHETIC! FULL OF LIES AND FEAR! YOU WILL SEE HAL JORDAN. THE PEOPLE'S OF VEGA HAVE BEEN MY TOYS FOR GENERATIONS. MY POWER MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TO TEMPT YOU, BUT THE OTHERS ARE JUST AS DANGEROUS. WHAT WILL YOU DO AGAINST THEM? WHEN I AM FREE, I WILL TELL THEM ALL ABOUT YOU, LANTERN. WE WILL SEE HOW FORMIDDABLE YOUR GREEN-LIGHT IS THEN!"_

John swallowed. "I'm sure they had a good reason, Hal. The Guardians have protected the universe for thousands of years."

"And not once has a Lantern been sent to Roshar or Scadrial. Both planets are off-limits to Lanterns. Both planets with foreign Light." He grit his teeth.

"I need to go to Roshar. Learn what I can about Light, and about these entities. Honour should at least listen to me. Reports say he's the most reasonable of the three."

_"I THINK YOU SHOULD WORRY MORE ABOUT YOURSELF, HAL JORDAN. WHEN I AM FREE, MY FIRST STOP WILL BE EARTH. SUCH BEAUTIFUL SELFISHNESS THERE…"_

"You aren't going anywhere," Kara huffed. "You're locked up like a fish in a bowl."

Ophidian shied away from Kara's voice slightly, and Alex filed that away for future reference. Kara didn't have a selfish bone in her body. It was no wonder a being of pure greed and indulgence wouldn't like her. But Kara was not perfect. Not by a long shot. She had a lot of anger repressed, and if there were beings like Greed or Will or Honour, an entity of Anger wasn't much of a leap. Alex's sister would have a hard time fighting that.

_"WE WILL SEE."_

Alex and John snapped alert at once, warning bells ringing in their brains. Pushing back the aversion in her throat and stilling her shaking fists, Alex forced herself to watch the snake's face. It caught her eye and seemed to smile slightly, then it collapsed back into convulsing orange Light.

This creature wasn't acting like something defeated. In fact, it barely seemed to care that they'd stopped it from taking over Hal's body, or that Alex had rejected it.

It had another plan, and they needed to figure out what it was. Fast.

* * *

With Ophidian locked back into its cell, it wasn't hard for Alex to gain control of the Darkstars and disable the remaining units.

Unfortunately, that also confirmed Alex's fear. The creature was sure it would escape. Why? Because it had already set a plan in motion.

"The Darkstar heading to Tamaran _was_ ordered to kill the King," Alex said as she sat at a console in Citadel's control room, pouring over the holographic data screen in front of her. Citadel, it turned out, wasn't just a city, but a space-ship as well.

"It was meant to cause a panic on Tamaran, one big enough that, when a second Darkstar attacked Xanshi, they would blame each other and launch a full-scale war. To the winner goes the spoils, and an entity of greed would have all the power it needed to escape its prison."

The Citadel control room was an enormous structure staggered over three levels at the very top of the central tower. This level, the highest, had dozens of consoles scattered around, each displaying one of the city's different systems - power, life-support, shields, etc. To the right of the control room was a giant staircase leading down to the floor below, which was dominated by a Stargate. On the other side of the stairs was another room, with a single throne-like chair sitting dormant on a hexagonal platform. Weird. The walls were all a coppery red, with silver metal pylons forming each intersection, and the keyboards were all constructed from glass. They'd changed from a language she didn't know - presumably whatever the Ancients spoke - to English. It was a beautiful space. The Ancients had been brilliant at interior decorating.

"I don't understand this though," Kara said, tracing a line of code on Alex's screen denoting the instructions given to each Darkstar. Alex had been unable to contact the other machine, which, according to its built-in GPS, was on Xanshi right now.

"It's nowhere near any cities. What's it doing in the middle of nowhere? Shouldn't it be trying to kill the Xanshin president?"

Alex shrugged. It wasn't near any of the population centres, but Xanshin was much larger than Tamaran, about the size of Mars.

"Let me see?" Hal said. He was sitting on a chair behind them, wounds bound in bandages Alex had recovered from a medical wing a few floors down. They'd found his ring - locked in a suspension matrix - but it had been out of power, and he'd left his lantern on Earth. John had spent at least five minutes berating him. Then, when he'd tried to summon _his_ lantern, he'd been unable to, which had elicited a great deal of laughter from Hal. Apparently, the city-shield was preventing him from accessing the pocket dimension where it resided. And with two Xanshin ships one minute out, dropping the shield was a big no.

Hal pushed himself over to the screen and scrutinised it.

"Xanshi is mostly a forest world, I don't…" He froze, eyes going wide. "Oh shit. Xanshi's soil is extremely nutrient-rich thanks to the magma chambers in the planet's crust. If one of the Darkstars self-destructs down there, it could set off a massive chain reaction on the surface. Millions would die."

John, who'd been standing a short distance away, bolted towards the staircase as Hal started rapidly dialling the Stargate from a nearby console. Alex stepped back, heart rate jumping. Kara left to her feet as well, racing after the Green Lantern.

"Kara wait!"

Kara ignored her. The Stargate surged to life, a blue portal settling into the ring-shaped device, and John and Kara both shot through.

The gate shut down, and not a second later, Alex's screen chimed.

The Xanshin ships had arrived.

* * *

Kara shot through the Stargate, skidding to a halt on marble. The Stargate on Xanshi was in the middle of a city square it seemed, for dozens of people had stopped to gawk at her and John as they exited. There were also at least twenty guards around the perimeter, all pointing weapons at them.

John had been right, the Xanshin looked much more human than their Tamaraenean counterparts. They were the same size as humans and had similar muscular structures. Their skin was pitch black, their hair equally dark in colour, though highlights appeared to be a popular fashion choice. The significant difference, she supposed, was the exaggerated nature of their figures. Every man she could see looked like an Olympic swimmer, and every single woman had a perfect hourglass figure and breasts at least twice the size of Kara's own.

She was _not_ jealous.

"Stop! Who dares step foot on Xanshi without…"

"Your planet is about to explode!" John snapped. Then he shot into the sky, leaving a trail of green light behind him.

The guards all turned to Kara with stunned expressions.

"You heard him! Move!"

She followed John into the sky, leaving a slightly unnecessary crater in the exquisite marble of the Stargate platform. Arching over the capital - a sprawling metropolis that reminded her of National City - she followed John away from the city and across a veritable sea of green. Hal hadn't been kidding. _Forest planet_ did not do that massive jungle beneath her justice. It stretched across the whole horizon, punctuated only by the occasional bluff or clearing. Pillars of woodsmoke rose into the night across the forest, punctuated by tiny lights beneath the canopy of trees.

It was gorgeous. Like nothing she'd ever seen before.

John's ring, which was now literally ringing alarm bells, led them to a meteor crater after a half an hour flight. They swooped down towards the opening, and Kara's stomach started flipping. What if they were too late?

Someone had opened a fissure in the dirt-covered crater, digging down into the earth below. John, a look of steeled determination etched into every facet of his face, shot into the cave. Kara followed him, being careful not to let her gravity shift the rock of the opening and collapse the entrance. The fissure opened up after a few metres… and Kara fell out of the sky.

"Eeeep!"

Her powers cut out, no pain, no warning. She simply dropped like a sack of potatoes and face planted into the stone. Thankfully, Cisco's suit absorbed most of the impact, but the audible _'crack!'_ and the subsequent stab of pain in her face definitely signalled a broken nose.

"Excewent," she groaned, sitting up and rubbing her aching nose, blood dripping down into her mouth.

"Rao wat' urts. How does Owiver do wis all de time?" She slurred. John landed beside her, pulling up a screen with his ring and running a diagnostic.

"Are you alright?"

"My nose is bwoken! What do you thwink!?"

As she was berating him, she looked up at the ceiling, realising what she'd missed before. A layer of barely visible steam covered the roof of the cavern—a mist with a distant effervescent crimson tint to it.

"Fucking Light," she muttered. John's ring confirmed it a moment later.

_"Sensors indicate a high concentration of X'Light in the caverns beyond. Alert the Guardians immediately; proceed with caution."_

"Wonderful," John muttered, turning away from Kara and looking to a tunnel where the Darkstar must have gone.

"Go. I will be fwine," she said. John swallowed, then raced down the tunnel beyond. Kara fixed her gaze on the opening in the ceiling. No way she was getting up there without her powers. She'd have to wait.

The deeper John flew into the caverns, the more his ring yelled at him.

_"Warning! Approaching dangerous levels of foreign Light exposure. Return to the surface immediately. Emergency communication with Oa failed. Return to the surface immediately. Geothermal pressures exceeding safe levels. Return to the surface immediately!"_

But John wasn't in the mood to trust the Guardians right now. He had a job to do. Save the planet. He wouldn't let it die. He could do this. Prove to the Guardians, to Hal, to the Justice League, that he deserved this. The ring hadn't made a mistake.

Finally, just as he was beginning to feel the heat and pressure even within his aura, he emerged into a massive cavern filled with liquid magma. Bubbles of plasma burst from the molten ground, the very air threatening to burst alight. Everything reeked of brimstone and sulphate.

Where was… There!

Floating just above the lava was the figure of a Darkstar, Avaricelight flaring around its metal form.

In a second, he'd formed a rocket launcher and fired at the walking corpse. The Darkstar saw him but utterly ignored its oncoming death. The rocket crashed into it… and did nothing. The construct shattered around the creature's armour.

John growled, flying down towards the Darkstar, forming an enormous sledgehammer in his hands. He brought it down on the creature's head, confident of a killing blow, but again his construct shattered. Then Light infused steel stabbed straight through his shields, piercing his gut.

And John realised what he'd missed. The creature's orange glow had hidden the fact that its armour was _yellow._ The one thing a Green Lantern's Light couldn't touch.

The Darkstar punched him in the face, pulling out the blade, and John was sent careening backwards. Gut burning, blood pooling from the wound, he barely managed to keep himself from hitting the lava. His ring was screaming at him.

He turned around, ready to try again - grab a hand full of lava and melt the thing - when the unthinkable happened.

It detonated.

A catastrophic "**_BOOM!" _**tore through the cavern, John was flattened against the rock walls, then lava was all around him, and his awareness blinked away.

* * *

For Kara, who'd been pacing her cavern near the surface, the explosion started as a dull rumbling in the earth that began growing louder, louder, until the truth of it couldn't be denied. John had failed.

She had to get out of here before she was incinerated.

The air around her began to heat. The earth cracking and shattering to a fine mist of stone and dirt as it cascaded from the fissure above. She tried to jump into the sky, willing her powers to return, but she couldn't get more than a few inches from the ground.

"Come on, come on, come on…"

The stone at her feet began to crack and splinter, vibrations running through the planet itself.

Kara's gaze fixed on the gaseous X'Light clinging to the ground and roof. Watching as it pulsed to the vibrations, as it swirled around her feet. Could she use that somehow? Krypton had no natural magic, that was why she and Clark were so vulnerable to it. The stones began to glow with heat.

But she wasn't on Krypton anymore.

There was energy, power, in those mists, and Kara's body could absorb solar radiation.

Did she dare touch that which she hated so much?

In the end, the decision was made for her. The ground of the cavern collapsed as lava burst forth in fountains of liquid rock, and Kara had no choice but to fall and reach for the Light as she did so. She sucked in a deep breath, as much as her Kryptonian lungs - built for picking apart oxygen from carbon-dioxide - could hold.

A surge of strength flooded her body and mind both, a euphoric, burning sensation that urged her to move, to _fly._

And fly she did.

Her nose healed in a split second, and Kara shot up into the air trailing effervescent crimson light as magma flared around her. The Light rolled off her entire body as she flew higher and higher to escape the explosions of fire and death and ash. Only once she reached the atmosphere did she dare look down.

Rivers of lava were ripping apart the beautiful forests, and wildfires were scorching the earth. Settlements across the woods were alight or falling into enormous caverns as they opened up at their feet.

And the screaming. Her enhanced ears heard each and everyone—the wails and cries of the dead and dying.

Tears streaking down her face, Kara Zor-El did the only thing she could.

She descended like a burning angel from heaven and saved as many people as she could.

* * *

Alex, Hal and Kori watched in horror as Citadel's deep space sensors recorded the devastation of Xanshi. Life signs blinking out across the planet by the thousands. The entire Western Hemisphere was now aflame, enormous ash clouds clogging the sky. And it had only been ten minutes since it started.

"Kori, you _have _to help them," Alex said, voice trembling.

Kori looked like she'd be sick any second. The flames in her hair had died entirely, and her green eyes were closed as she muttered a prayer to X'Hal under her breath.

"They are our enemies," she whispered. "This doesn't change that."

"They're still your neighbours, you've lived here for thousands of years Koriand'r," Hal said. "Now you have a chance to put aside enmity and do the right thing. Be bold. Be courageous. Millions _will_ die if you don't do something."

Kori swallowed.

The console beside Alex started beeping, and she accepted the call with shaking hands.

_"What have you done?!" _

A Xanshin man was staring murder at Kori and Alex, eyes ringed red with tears.

_"Captain, the Xanshin ships are locking weapons on us. What do we do?" _Came the voice of Kori's first officer on another screen.

Kori took a deep breath, then stood up straight-backed, fire returning to her hair.

"Colonel Aernfar," she said, speaking to the Xanshin ships. "I'm ordering all available Tamaranean ships to Xanshin immediately. We'll help you as much as we can."

_"How do we know you weren't behind this!"_

"The thing that did this is locked up in Citadel, Aernfar," Hal said, pushing his chair so he was in front of the screen. "I've already sent a distress beacon to the Green Lantern Corps. You'll have all the help we can give you."

Aernfar stared at them for a few moments, before nodding and closing the link.

Kori turned to her commander.

"Set a course of Xanshin immediately, and send out an alert to our fleet. Every ship is to help with evacuation and medical attention." The commander nodded, then he too vanished.

"I'll gate back to Tamaran from here, tell my sister and the King what's happened. At least, with the Darkstars gone, we can use Citadel as a… as a refugee camp." She paused.

"I'm sorry about your sister."

Then she dialled the Stargate and left, the three ships in orbit doing the same.

"Ophidian is still locked up, and if the Tamaraneans and Xanshin can work together, he should stay that way," Hal said, standing up and wincing. "I'm going to Oa. I'll report to the Guardians and get myself healed up."

Alex nodded dejectedly. Kara would be okay; she could survive flying lava and ash storms. But if Kara had been underground when the explosions went off… No. Don't think about that. And what about John?

"What then?" She asked him.

Hal grit his teeth.

"I'm going to Roshar. Fuck the Guardians and their rules. I'm going to learn about Light, all the Lights. They can strip me of my ring if they want."

Alex held out a hand to him, and he took it. They still weren't friends, but they'd buried the hatchet between them for now in mutual respect.

Just as Hal was about to leave, a blip appeared on the long-range sensors.

"What now?" Alex muttered.

An asteroid had appeared at the furthest edge of the sensors - some fifty light-years away. But, not just an asteroid. More like a small moon. And it wasn't orbiting anything. What was that?

"City, run an analysis," Hal said, looking as confused as Alex felt.

_'Processing…_

_'Analysis complete. Mineral composition indicates large quantities of Kryptonite and Naquadah. Speculation based on stellar path and trajectory: apparent debris from the planet Krypton. One settlement detected - population approximately 200,000 life-signs.'_

Alex fell off her chair.

* * *

**The Present Day…**

Kara understood why Clark hadn't wanted her to come here now. It was, for lack of a better word, hell.

Ally, Kara's second daughter, had run her into a swirling vortex of white energy. Like a breach, but she knew it was something very different. That corridor had dropped them here. At the edge of forever.

Kara and Ally stood atop a rock outcrop, staring down at a storm. A storm of destruction, of ruin and transformation eternal. A surging refractive mass, punctuated by explosions of red, black and white energy instead of lightning or thunder. It was like the ocean amid a hurricane. Spreading as far as Kara could see, undulating and crashing in on itself eternally. The air around them was damp, heavy not with rain but with the power of transformation itself.

The sky above was pitch black. It wasn't _truly_ black, that was just how Kara's brain created the image. What she was really seeing was a pool of cosmic power - the Nether Force - the prison bars, the roof on this place of nightmares. But there were stars dotting its surface. Not real stars, though they looked like it from where she was standing. No, the pin-pricks of light she could see were universes held in their death throws, forced to relive their last agonising moments over, and over, and over, and over.

"How are we going to get through that?" Kara whispered, holding her daughter's hand.

"The Destroyer keeps the Dark Force reservoir here, a last-ditch protection against interlopers seeking the Forge of Worlds. But I was born on the other side of the storm. My Light is the mingling of Life, Death and Dark. Of Cultivation, Preservation and Ruin. That storm is a part of me, as I'm forever bound to it."

Kara didn't understand a word of that, but she watched, transfixed, as Ally walked them towards the edge of the storm. With every step she took, white light, like soft mist or smoke, began to rise from her body. The storm started to ebb, calming under her touch. Then it _parted_ altogether, revealing a path down beyond, leading to… It was a lake—a pool of molten metal pulsing with music that was at once calming, strengthening and overpowering.

Ally led her to the very shore of the Forge, then knelt down before the metallic waters.

"This is the Forge of Worlds—the very font of creation. I can use the waters to restore your memories if you want. My mother's life, aligned to yours. You can remember both lives, or just hers if you want."

Kara swallowed, listening to the harmony of creation as it reverberated around her. What did she want? She wanted the life this other her had lived. A life with a man who loved her. With daughters of her own.

That was what Oliver had sacrificed himself to give her. The final step, the final choice, had to be hers.

Did she truly want to give up her other life? Her original life. Everything that made her who she was. Ally could wipe it clean. What about the hidden pains of this world? Did she want to put those on her shoulders? She knew there were things she'd yet to learn. They could be horrible.

Oliver had built this world. Had brought them into this new multiverse. He would never give them a clean, unburdened life. He understood doing that would destroy who they were. And Oliver's own nightmares and memories had undoubtedly followed the Paragons to Earth-Prime. But he _had_ built this world, so she had to believe it had a happy ending.

She glanced into her daughters kind, welcoming, gorgeous face, and knew that for truth.

"Bring her back. Leave her my memories, not prominent, just there for when she needs them. But bring back your mother. Let me sleep."

Ally smiled softly, then cupped her hands in the waters. She lifted them up, and the liquid metal shimmered with expectant energy.

Kara Danvers, Kara Zor-El, bowed her head, eyes closed.

"Thank you."

Ally let the power fall atop her head, and Kara Allen was reborn.

* * *

_Barry is back next chapter :D_


	13. The End

**The Present…**

Ellie found her father standing with hands clasped behind his back, staring out the windows of the Watchtower as the Earth glittered below.

"We did so much more than they did Els," he whispered, turning as she entered. Ellie stepped into her father's embrace, basking in the warmth of him, in the hum of electricity beneath his skin.

"What do you mean?"

"The old us. The destroyed universe, with the other me. They had all the resources we did. But they never _used_ it. My other-self was so focussed on fixing his own life by the end that he'd stopped thinking about what he could do for everyone else. They never opened STAR Labs to the public again, never discovered light. And the walls between worlds kept him and his Kara just separate enough that they ignored what was in front of them. I… _We've_ suffered our own share of horrors. Everyone has their demons. But Oliver, when he restarted the Multiverse, pulled us into this new reality, knew that. He couldn't take away what made us who we are. But he could make our burdens a bit easier to bare, and that made all the difference. We changed. We evolved. We grew together."

"We created the Justice League, we saved the world _together_, not alone like a grand competition. It was like some cosmic hand was holding them back from becoming something new. I hope to God that never happens to us."

Ellie rested her head on his shoulder.

"Dad… Mom will be fine, right?"

"Ally has taken her to the Forge. We have to believe she'll come back. She did it before, she can do it again. If anyone can stare the Destroyer in the face and make him blink, it's your Mom."

Ellie's power couldn't penetrate the Dark Multiverse, and neither could her father's. The Destroyer's own power was what governed consciousness and time within his prison. Only Ally could walk all three paths, and Ellie had to trust that her sister would protect their mother.

"I've been going over everything in my head," Barry said. "Trying to reconcile my memories. What happened to me, and what happened to the old me. And I keep coming back to the Thinker. The Dome… Remind me, what happened under the Dome?"

Ellie swallowed. She'd only been six, but she remembered everything—one of the not-so-great perks of being plugged into the universal consciousness.

"DeVoe wanted to enlighten the world. To move the Earth past petty squabbles for power and wealth."

Barry snorted, and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Yes yes, free will is important and all that, but Dad, you haven't lived through the War of Power. Humanity practically rips itself apart before it realises the things that really matter."

"Doesn't justify turning everyone into mindless drones," Barry said. "I know you're more aware of humanity, what it can do, what it has done and will do than I could ever be, but you _have_ to remember the people on the ground Els."

Ellie sighed. This was an age-old argument between them, and she knew it would never be resolved. Her father was just too much of an optimist. Having lived her entire life experiencing the best and the worst of people's thoughts, Ellie couldn't be like him. Growing up knowing whenever a man on the street is leering at you in their minds, the opinions of every teacher and 'friend' you ever had… It was not something she would wish on anyone.

"Well, the Thinker realised pretty fast after he failed with me that the Sage Force, unlike the other Forces, bites back. _Hard_. It doesn't like being used by anyone. It barely tolerates _me_, and frequently abandons me when it doesn't like my choices. Instead, he turned his attention to the Speed Force, hoping to accelerate the world, instead of enlighten it."

"We stopped him," Barry muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"_You_ stopped him," Ellie corrected, rolling her eyes. "Dragged him straight through the Speed Force itself to try and help him, heal his brain, which was dying from what the Dark Matter had done to him."

"I just made things worse."

"All of us, DeVoe included, had forgotten Physics most important lesson."

"For every action," Barry recited, "there's an equal and opposite reaction."

Ellie nodded.

"The Still Force is an… an _anti-_force. The counter to the Speed Force, as Death is to Life. The difference is, it _shouldn't_ exist up here. It's from the Dark Multiverse, one of the weapons the Destroyer created to counter the Enigma Forces. It stops time and entropy, and the Thinker thought he could use it to defeat you once and for all…"

* * *

THE FLASH: S4EP21 - Stilled (May 2018)

Barry stood in Central City Square, Ellie in his arms, his friends, family and enemies surrounding him, watching in horror as a wall of thick, green energy enveloped the city like a dome, blocking out the sun in an instant. Central City was plunged into emerald shadow, and everything _stopped_.

The wind? Gone. The sounds of the city, of cars and people and birds… all of them frozen solid in a single moment.

Thawne, wearing the face of Harrison Wells, standing with Captain Cold from Earth-12 and Amunet, doubled over, screaming in horror and pain.

"Barry! Do something!"

He watched, panicking, heart-pounding, terror gripping his very bones, as all life seemed to just… _drain_ out of Joe. The cop just _stilled._ The light in his eyes went out, and his body froze, suspended by nothing. All around them, people on the street was stilling. Trapped in eternal stasis with the rest of the city.

Everyone, except the Metahumans.

"It's the Still Force!" Frost screamed, falling to her knees as Cisco grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Caitlin!"

"Not Caitlin! She's…. She's stilled with the rest of them! I can't _feel_ her anymore!"

"Flash! _Do_ something!" Snart yelled, dropping his gun to the tarmac before he too became frozen with the rest of the city.

Ellie went rigid in his arms. "Daddy! I… I can't _hear_ anything. Everyone's gone."

"No! They aren't gone," Cisco yelled, stepping back from Frost and trying to open a Breach. "We'll bring in the other Flashes…"

But no Breach opened.

"Idiot!" Thawne snarled, stumbling to his feet. Amunet, hands covered with her metal gauntlets, was staring around at them looking very confused.

"The entire city has been cut off. From time, from entropy, from the Multiversal consciousness and the Orrery itself! You can't open a Breach when there's nowhere to Breach too. It's too late. We've lost."

Barry pulled Ellie tighter to his chest and stalked into the centre of the square.

"Now what DeVoe!" He screamed at the sky, knowing the Thinker would hear him, even if he didn't know-how.

"You've done it! Put us all on pause. What now!? You can't enlighten everyone if we can't think!"

The air before them shifted, and DeVoe, wearing Ralph's body, stepped through, a smug and satisfied smirk stretching across his face.

"It's not about _thinking_ anymore, Flash. You've shown me the truth. Humanity, in its current form, can _never_ be cured, healed. I've tried, so hard, to save the world. But you won't let me. Now, you get to live with your failures and watch as I wield the one thing you can't fight: absolute stillness. You refuse to remain in one place, to embrace the life you live, instead just rushing from place to place. Enjoy running for eternity as I reset Central City again, and again, and again. I'll rewind the clock and start again until I get it right: humanity built on strength, not weakness."

"Without freedom you mean," Barry hissed.

"Freedom is cancer. I learnt that. I suggest you do too, or the next few million years won't be very enjoyable for you or your friends."

Thawne raced past Barry, blazing with red lightning, but DeVoe simply raised a hand and froze him with rippling green energy. The Thinker rolled his eyes, then discarded Thawne with a wave of his hand. Amunet fired her metal shaving at him, but they too were simply frozen.

"The _Negative_ Speed-Force. Just as pathetic as its positive counterpart. Enjoy your imprisonment Eobard Thawne, and thank you for making all of this possible."

Ellie gasped, pulling her head from Barry's chest and fixating on DeVoe, eyes glowing purple. DeVoe flinched, then vanished back through his dimensional window.

Barry sank to his knees, placing Ellie on the ground as Cisco and Frost stepped up on either side of him.

"He's going to wipe the city clean, again, and again, until he creates the version of humanity he wants."

"We have to stop him," Frost said, hands trembling, face stern.

"How?" Cisco exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "The only people still awake are metahumans, and Iron Heights is outside the Dome. Nothing can get in or out."

"He's right," Thawne said, pulling himself up. Amunet approached from the other side of them, weaving past the frozen Joe.

"I'm too attached to this lovely city to let some old white guy rewrite it for all eternity; get off your knees, and _fix_ this Flash."

Ellie approached the point where DeVoe had vanished, hair glowing effervescent gold, and poked at the air.

"I could hear him," she whispered as if confused. "I couldn't before…"

Cisco's head snapped up.

"How'd he get here? If everything inside is stilled, his pocket dimension would have to be _outside_ the Dome. Or Marleen would be frozen too."

He turned to Thawne.

"The Negative Speed-Force still works?"

"Obviously."

Barry grit his teeth, then stood up and built the Speed-Force within his veins, letting the lightning pulse through him. Then he lashed out, desperate, running straight for the Still Force barrier.

He crashed into the Dome at five times the speed of sound… and _bounced_ backwards at the same velocity he entered. He crashed back, rolling along bitumen for several kilometres before he came to rest. Then he tried again. And again. And again. And again.

Each time, the Still Force repulsed him. But it wasn't like in the cells on Earth-X. His powers didn't react like they did with Thawne's. It was like the Still Force wasn't even there. He couldn't _feel_ it at all.

The Dome flared, tendrils of energy stretching from its surface, reaching for the ground, and Barry ran back to the square.

"There has to be something we can do," Barry fumed. "The Still Force nullifies the Speed Force, its a counter. Which means the Speed Force has to do the same. Equal and opposite reactions!"

"But _how_?" Frost exclaimed. She was kneeling beside Ellie, who was still staring at the place the Thinker had vanished. "The Still Force dampens everything in its path. Even you. What chance do we have?"

Except it didn't.

Frost was still awake. So was Cisco, and Amunet and Ellie and Barry and Thawne. All of them Metahumans, all of them warped and infused with Dark Matter.

Matter from _beyond_ the natural world, just like the Still Force.

Barry and Thawne met each others' gaze, and Barry could tell they'd come up with the same idea. They'd been together, rivals, enemies, even friends, for a long time. Barry and Eobard… they were a positive and negative duality. The same, yet opposite all at once. Working with and against one another. The Still Force was not a true opposite. It was a shadowed version of the Positive and Negative Speed-Forces which represented time in motion. The Still Force was rather the _absence_ of time.

How did you fight when you had no time? Simple. You didn't. You had to make more.

"Will it work?" Barry asked his greatest enemy, the man in the yellow suit.

"I don't know. Even _I_ didn't know something like the Still Force could exist before this."

"What is it? You've figured it out?" Cisco asked, grabbing Barry's shoulder.

"We have to run together, restart time inside, and collapse the Dome."

"How are you going to do that?"

Thawne grinned. "We're going to recreate the Particle Accelerator Explosion. Only this time, the particles are going to be _us._"

Cisco blinked. Then he blinked again.

"That's… incredible, but… but can't DeVoe just rebuild the Dome once you shatter it?"

The two speedsters paused. He was right. What was stopping the Thinker from just starting again?

"We need a continuous attack. A wall of speed to fight a wall of stillness," Barry said.

"But even you two can't be in more than one place at once," Frost said, "The Racer might not be able to get inside, but he'll be waiting."

Thawne chuckled to himself.

"I guess I have one more thing to teach you then, _Flash_." The Reverse-Flash reached out and grabbed Amunet's forearm.

"What do you think…"

And he _pushed_ his lightning into her. Flickering red electricity flared across the supervillain's body, and she stumbled backwards, watching her hands as they vibrated, just as Barry's had when this all started.

"That'll do it," Cisco stated, jaw hanging loose.

"Now that's a rush and a half…" she whispered. Then, with a look of concentration, she flashed across the courtyard in a blur of lightning, skidding to a halt a few metres away.

"Holy hell."

Thawne folded his arms and shot Barry the expression Wells had during those first months, looking over the STAR Labs consoles with false pride in his voice and face.

"Sharing speed. Doesn't last long, but it'll last long enough for this. Hurry up, Flash or Central City is done for."

Barry gritted his teeth and placed a hesitant hand on Cisco's shoulder. He swallowed, then, not really sure how he did it, pushed a current of speed right into his friend's body.

"Yahtzeeeee!"

Cisco yanked from Barry's arm and started pin-balling around the courtyard, and Barry face-palmed. He'd done this before, he realised now. When bringing people into Flashtime. It was essentially the same process.

Thawne looked between Ellie and Frost.

"I need one more if this is going to work."

Frost stepped between Thawne and Ellie as Barry vaulted to his daughter's side.

"You can do it to me, Thawne. Touch her, and we'll all kill you."

Thawne snorted, but said nothing else, approaching Frost and repeating the process of pushing lightning into her body. Her form flickered to life, and she took a long, raspy breath as the power flooded into her.

"I… I understand why you love this so much," she whispered. Cisco flashed to a stop, the most genuine smile on his face that Barry had seen in a long time.

"That is… it's just _wow."_

Barry ignored them both, turning around and looking Ellie in the eye. God… she was just six years old. She shouldn't have to deal with this, telepathy induced maturity or not.

She took his hand and pulled him close.

"I can do it," she whispered. Barry nodded, for that was all he could bring himself to do.

Then he pushed his lightning into her.

She staggered backwards, golden electricity flaring around her, then it stabilised, and she took a long breath.

"Two Forces… they don't like sharing. We have to do this fast."

Cisco practically bounced.

"I've been waiting five years to say this. 'Fast? Its the only way we know how!'"

Frost smacked him over the back of the head.

The two groups lined up opposite one another, back to back. Barry held Ellie's hand, trying desperately to not watch as the tentacles of green energy pulled apart the tallest skyscrapers.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Set."

"GO!"

All six Flashes, natural and temporary, raced down their highways, blurs of red and yellow lightning shooting through Central City. Barry's team reached the Still Force barrier, then turned parallel to it, running a metre from the wall. Barry kept his eyes on Ellie, making sure she didn't stumble. She couldn't run as fast as Cisco, certainly not as quickly as Barry, because of her smaller size. But her violet eyes were razor-focused, golden light rippling from her hair to become as much a part of her trail as the lightning.

She _was_ his daughter.

Ellie smiled at him, then let go of his hand, running on her own.

They swept past the Reverse-Flashes, Barry making sure Amunet and Frost were holding their own. Frost was a natural apparently, though Caitlin watching Barry run for so many years probably had something to do with it. Amunet was far worse - worse even than Ellie. But Frost and Wells (_not-Wells, Thawne!) _were showing her what to do. Fortunately, going fast was not the point here. Just running.

Once, twice more they raced past one another, then Barry pulled slightly ahead of the other two.

"Get ready!"

Thawne zoomed past once more, seeing Barry ready, and held out his right arm. Barry did the same.

Next pass. Barry mounted the bridge that crossed the Mississippi. Thawne did too. They approached one another right on mach one… and clapped hands together.

A shockwave of electricity burst from their forms - positive and negative speed repulsing away from one another - and as it touched the rippling wall of green, the energy _cracked._ The entire Dome trembled, splintering from peak to ground. But as Barry and Thawne split up, Cisco was proved right. The Still Force started healing itself, whether by natural reaction or through the Thinker's efforts.

Then Cisco and Amunet clapped hands.

Another shockwave, smaller but more than enough to spark time flowing again. The wall splintered, fragments bursting into non-existence.

Ellie and Frost clapped hands.

The wall convulsed, trying to collapse inward, but something else held it steady…

Barry and Thawne completed another revolution and clapped once more.

The peak of the Dome shattered for a moment before reforming.

It was working.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the Flashes began the process of tearing down the Dome, the Speed-Canon deep in the bowls of STAR Labs, the one that was supposed to be inoperable, burst to life. A swirling, shimmering, black and red Breach opened onto Earth-Prime, and a figure stepped through. Tall, enveloped in a dark cape, with the symbol of a bat etched across his heavily armoured chest. To call the figure a man would be incorrect. He had been a man once certainly, but he was certainly not one any longer. He wore a cowl, as all his people did, but his was lined with dirty grey steel, thick spikes protruding from where the eyes, ears and nose should have been. Only his mouth was visible. And it was here that he distinguished himself from all others of his kind.

He wore a thick, bloody, red smile, razor-sharp teeth behind it.

"So this is what it looks like on the outside?" The Batman Who Laughs pondered as he strolled down the steps and into a real-world for the first time in his life.

"I thought it would smell nicer. Make a note of that would you, Red? We should fix that."

Two more figures stepped through the Breach before it flashed violently and collapsed into nothingness.

The first was a woman with gorgeous blonde hair and painted red lips, black paint creating the image of tears streaming down her porcelain skin. Like his, her suit was pitch black, but with an S sigil drawn from blood over her chest.

The second was taller than her, but shorter than him, and encased entirely in red metal armour. His chest was blazoned with a Lightning-Bolt, but it was surrounded by the S shield, and bisected by two… wings? Nothing of his face was visible.

Overgirl and the Red Death. All three of these were horrors. Nightmares born of fear and terror, repurposed by That Which Rules the Darkness, The Great Destroyer, as tools in his eternal war. They were just three of his Dark Knights; more would be coming soon. Indeed, a new Knight was already being prepared on this world.

Their task? Drag Earth-Prime, kicking and screaming, down into the Dark.

The Red Death snorted in disgust, then retracted his helmet, revealing dirty brown hair, a face many would describe as kindly, and deep red eyes.

He put an arm around Overgirl, and she giggled uncontrollably at his touch.

"Sure thing, Bats. I'll put it right under 'reduce the universe to scrap metal'."

"Atta boy, Barry."

Then the Batman Who Laughs drew from his belt a gun and pointed it at the far wall. He pulled the trigger, and a flag burst from the end, spraying confetti in all directions.

"Ha, ha! Gets me every time."

He switched weapons, then fired again. This time, what left the gun was not a flag, but a shard of metal that pulled all light that surrounded it inwards, absorbing and nullifying it. It struck the wall, and a haze of DarkLight formed there - a gateway useable by those for whom touching the power of creation is toxic.

Together, the trio walked through their gate, and it vanished behind them, leaving only a single sound in its wake.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

SUPERGIRL: S3EP22 - Worldkiller (May 2018)

_Previously, on Supergirl…_

_Using the advanced technology aboard the Citadel, Alex has pinpointed the location of the Kryptonian city of Argo, which was set adrift in space by the destruction of Krypton. Now, as the Green Lantern Corps negotiates a truce over the Xanshin refugees and who gets control of Citadel with the Tamaraneans, Koriand'r has agreed to bring Kara and Alex to Argo. There, Kara has reunited with her mother Alura and learned the horrifying truth. Reign isn't dead as she was led to believe, and she's escaped her prison on Earth thanks to her creator, the Kryptonian witch Selena, who has stolen Kori's starship, leaving Kara, Alex and Starfire stranded on Argo with no way home…_

_Green Lantern John Stewart has been labelled MIA; his ring has yet to be found._

* * *

**Earth…**

Lena pushed a piece of rubble away from her, coughing and spluttering as she desperately tried to pull some oxygen into her lungs. Her side was throbbing something fierce, and bones were protruding from the skin of her right leg. The numbness of shock and Lena's iron will held back the pain for now, but they would fade before long, and she would be stuck here beneath the destroyed laboratory.

She'd been so close! The Harun-El, Black-Kryptonite, the material Winn had discovered and given to her, had _worked_. It had been separating Reign and Sam - splitting their consciousness. Sam had been winning! If she'd just had a few more hours of radiation exposure…

But she was gone now, and the Justice League's secret lab was utterly destroyed.

"Lena?!"

A voice? Who was that?

"Down here!" She croaked.

Two hands reached under the rock crushing her and heaved it out of the way, revealing…

"Mon-El?"

It was him, though he looked older for some reason. Kara's friend. The one that had left. His mother had kidnapped Lena the previous year.

"Can you move?"

"No."

He slid down into the crevasse in which she was stuck and lifted her with super-strength. A good thing too, because Lena's adrenaline was starting to run out.

"Reign's gone; Superman has gone after her alone…"

"What about the Flash? Can't he help…"

"He's stuck in Central City. Nothing can get in or out. There's this… this energy field around it, trapping everything inside."

Lena swallowed as Mon-El carried her towards the exit, getting in contact with the DEO for an emergency transport. It had taken the entire Justice League to take Reign down last time; Lena doubted even Superman could defeat her on his own.

As they reached the outside, the ground started rumbling… and it didn't stop.

* * *

**_Argo…_**

Kara and Alex stared in horror at the readings coming from Earth displayed on the High Council Chamber's enormous screen. The core was expanding, threatening to detonate the entire planet.

"Oh, Rao…" Kara breathed as Alex gripped her shoulder in a vice. "She's going to terraform the Earth."

"It'll kill everyone."

Barry! Ellie!

Kara's hands balled to fists, and she screamed, hoarse and guttural.

"Kara… honey, there's nothing we can do. We have no way to get there…" Alura exclaimed, rubbing a pattern into Kara's back she had so many years ago when Kara had been only a child.

"My husband is down there, my _daughter_ is down there. I won't leave them! I _can't_."

Alura jerked back, stunned. Kara hadn't told her about Barry or Ellie. Alex, on the other hand, smirked something fierce.

"You married him. I knew you did! Why didn't you tell me!?"

"You're… you're a mother? I have a granddaughter…"

Kara could do nothing but stare at the screen in growing horror. There was no Stargate on Argo, they had no ships to escape.

"Kori… there has to be a way to call the Corps or Tamaran."

The Tamaranean Captain, standing a short distance away in respect, shook her head softly.

"Communications equipment doesn't work inside Argo, and we only had a small transport - my ship and all the other Tamaranean vessels are helping the evacuation of Xanshi."

"But there has to be…" Kara froze. "X'Light. I can hold X'Light just like sunlight. The Harun-El that powers Argo, Alex, could I use that as fuel?"

Alex shivered. "Even if you could, Kara, you can't survive the vacuum of space any more than I can. You can't just fly back to Earth."

But Kara wasn't thinking about flying.

She looked at her Legion ring on Alex's finger.

And had the worst idea in the history of worst ideas.

They descended into Argo City's reactor core, Alura following Alex and Kori in a kind of trance.

"What's her name?"

"Ellie."

A serene smile formed on Alura's face, despite the situation.

"Ellie… A good name. From Ellira?"

"Just Ellie. She's adopted," Alex explained.

Kori - currently the only one of them with powers - forced the doors open, hair flickering with fierce flames, and the four women entered the city's core. A giant shard of Black Kryptonite, connected to dozens of power rods, hung suspended in the centre of the room.

Kara shivered, then held her hand out to Alex. Biting her lip, she gave the Legion ring back to Kara.

"I don't understand? What is that?" Kori asked.

"It's a Legionnaire Surge Ring," Kara said, "Made of Nth-Metal from Thanagar, its capable of absorbing any form of Investiture, or Light, and use it to temporarily manipulate the fundamental forces of the universe. Usually, it's limited to personal flight, communication or softening high falls. However, if I overcharge it with Haren-El radiation, I should be able to tap the Speed Force and jump myself back to Earth."

"No way! You are not doing that. The Speed-Force will rip you apart! And that's if the Black Kryptonite doesn't do it first, and you'll certainly destroy the ring!" Alex exclaimed, trying to grab the ring back from her. But Kara had already placed the device on her finger.

"The Speed Force knows me, Alex. Through Barry. I'm the only one it might let through. And I'm not breaking any rules. The Speed Force is connected to all points in time. All I have to do is travel just far enough to stop Reign before she terraforms the Earth."

"Kara, don't be stupid…"

Kara locked eyes with Alex, desperate, pleading.

"You have to let me go. Barry is down there. Clark is down there. They'll both be fighting Reign. She… she almost killed them last time, almost killed me. Maybe they can stop her, maybe they can't. But I won't let them do it on their own."

Alex looked like she really wanted to argue, but in the end, acquiesced and gave her the smallest of nods.

"You are a hero, Kara Zor-El. X'Hal come again in truth," Kori said, bowing to her.

"Save your world if you can, but know that you will always have a place on Tamaran if you cannot."

"Kara…" Alura said, voice choking. "Please be safe. I just got you back."

"I'll try."

Kara spun back to the black rock and, ignoring her fear, her terror, focussed only on her _need_ to save Barry, she pressed the ring to the Haren-El.

Purple, black energy flared all around her, and the Legion ring _burned. _Cracks started building in the Nth metal, a supposedly indestructible substance, and Kara, the radiation licking at her body, trying to scold her skin through the lead-lined suit, closed her eyes and searched for Barry's power. His lightning. The crackling surge of speed and energy and time that she had come to know so well.

She felt it, lying beneath the surface of reality, and in that torrential storm of lightning, she could almost _see_ him - running laps around a wall of green energy. And she could see Ellie too. How?

Kara didn't have time to think about it. Instead, she grabbed hold of the lightning and pulled herself into the storm.

She opened her eyes and screamed as she plummeted down, down, through a sea of rainbow light and energy, islands of storm clouds all around her.

_SUPERGIRL! YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE!_

A voice, commanding, all-encompassing and all passionate and fierce, echoed through the force, the very sea of light tremble before it.

_'I need to go home. He'll die if I don't!'_

She didn't speak the words, but they transmitted across to the entity here regardless.

_VERY WELL. SAVE THE RUNNER, DAUGHTER OF RAO._

A crack opened in the space below her, and she fell through it… and crashed into the DEO.

Kara rolled down the stairs, entire body smoking, electricity flaring around her and colliding with computers and lights. Coming to a stop, she groaned in pain, head spinning around and around and around. Her suit had melted in several places, and her right hand had burnt completely black, skin flaky, though thankfully she couldn't seem to feel it. Her Legion Ring was simply _gone._

"Kara!"

Winn raced across the room, flanked by J'onn, Mon-El and a dozen guards.

"I'm… I'm okay. I think… Where's… where's Reign?"

"_Kara?"_

Sitting in a wheelchair next to the holo table, Imra, Evelyn and Brainiac 5 behind her, was Lena. She was in bad shape, more parts of her body in casts than not, and her face was caught frozen in an expression of… well, it wasn't horror or fury, so that was a good sign. Lena blinked, then she looked to Imra, blinked again, slid between Mon-El, J'onn and Winn, before finally coming back to Kara.

"I am the stupidest genius who ever lived."

J'onn dropped to his knees beside Kara and grabbed her burnt hand.

"What happened?!"

"Doesn't matter now," Kara said, gaze still on Lena.

_'I'm sorry,' _Kara mouthed. Oh, Rao had she just ruined her relationship with Lena entirely by accident?

Lena's expression softened into an awkward smile.

_'I know,'_ she mouthed back, and a weight lifted itself from Kara's chest. She doubted they'd be entirely okay without a long-overdue conversation.

"Where's Superman and the Flash? Have they found Reign?"

"Superman's gone after her," Winn said, "we haven't heard anything back from him. Flash…"

"He's stuck in Central City," J'onn finished softly.

"Stuck?"

"With Ellie and the rest of his team. Nothing can get in or out."

Kara swallowed, nodding. Compartmentalise. You can't think about that right now. Stop Reign first.

"I'll go after Superman…"

"I know how to defeat Reign," Lena said, wheeling herself forward and pulling a cylindrical container from her pocket. It contained a dagger made of black stone. Black Kryptonite.

"It should split her back into Sam and Reign, then you can destroy the Worldkiller."

Kara nodded, and Imra stepped forward awkwardly.

"I can hold her for a moment, but only a moment before the Sage Force betrays me."

Kara's brain froze for a moment. The Sage Force? How could Imra... And then she felt just a bit like Lena undoubtedly did.

"Well _Ellie," _Kara said, raising an eyebrow, "this isn't how I expected my first bring your daughter to work day to turn out."

Kara's time-travelling daughter at least had the decency to look chagrined.

* * *

What none of them knew then, was that, on the opposite side of the world, another Speed-Force rift opened at the same time, spewing another Supergirl into a field of snow. Only, this Supergirl's left arm was burnt black, instead of her right.

* * *

**_One hour later…_**

Stephanie clung to the Batwing controls, her tears long since exhausted as she shot towards the source of the earthquakes rocking the Earth. Superman and Supergirl _had_ to be there. They were her only hope now.

Dropping the plane below the cloud layer, she almost lost her stomach at what she found.

Two honest to god spaceships were playing dodge over what must be an alien building: a pyramid covered in spikes, but built from something that might have been obsidian. The first ship, which looked more human, was on the attack, pursuing a long, thin vessel with a massive thruster that spewed a red-tinted vaporous substance. Stephanie, trusting her gut, decided this was the enemy ship. Red was bad right?

She shot straight towards the thin ship and pulled her trigger. The Batwing's two retrofitted railguns started pouring rounds into the alien ship's hull, thunder cracking in her ears from the clouds and the gunfire. The ship _exploded_ in a shower of fire and debris, and Stephanie banked sharply away. The second ship pulled off its run and angled towards her.

_Meep!_

Then her radio flared to life.

"Thanks for the assist," a woman's voice said, and Steph breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not a problem, alien bros," she said, instantly wincing. Alien bros? Really? Tim would be so mad at that… Dick would probably be proud, though.

"Um… maybe can you tell me what's going…"

Something _crashed_ straight through the plane's right wing, tearing it clean off. It didn't even appear on the radar.

Alarms blared through the cockpit, and Steph swerved, trying to right herself. But completely down a wing, she had no choice. She was definitely going down.

She reached down and pulled her ejector seat, praying that Tim would be alive to chastise her for destroying another of Bruce's toys when she got back to Gotham. The cockpit flew off, and Steph shot into the sky. As soon as she reached the peak of her parabola and gravity reasserted its dominance, she flared her purple cape out behind her and started scanning the ground for somewhere she could glide or grapple to.

What she saw instead was Supergirl duelling with a figure in black in the air, beams of heart vision flaring all around her.

Holy motherfucking batfracks she hated her life.

Supergirl and Reign crashed back into the alien fortress, leaving an enormous opening in the roof for Stephanie to shoot towards. She pulled her grapple, and just as Babs had taught her, sighted on a ledge just inside. Hitting her mark, she folded her cape and snapped down into the hole.

An alien battle for the sake of the world. Yeah, she was so out of her depth it wasn't funny. But Supergirl and Superman… they were her only hope of finding Layla. She didn't know if Babs would wake up, Tim was in jail, and Cass and Dick were both just _gone._ He had them, she was sure of it.

The Supers were her only chance.

God, if she thought about what that fucking clown-faced psycho was doing to her baby girl…

She dropped to the dirt floor inside the fortress, and her jaw promptly fell open.

"Now, Mom!" A woman with glowing golden hair screamed, hands held to her forehead.

"I can help," a green alien guy exclaimed, rushing to glowing woman and placing his hands atop hers. Holy fuck was he a _martian? _That was so cool!

Superman, _bleeding_ from a half dozen wounds, had Reign in a headlock. A man in a red suit was lying prone on the ground. Even from this distance, Steph could tell he was dead.

A few metres away from Stephanie, Supergirl rose from a collapsed wall, pulled a black bladed dagger from her boot and advanced towards Reign, lines of black tracing up her skin. Her right forearm was burnt black.

In the centre of the room was a giant pit like… Like a Lazarus Pit, but glowing with black energy. An _alien Lazarus Pit. _

"Hurry!" The golden-haired woman yelled, trembling something fierce as Reign snarled and tried to bite down on Superman's arm, screeching the entire time.

A new figure, dressed in gaudy total villain robes, rose from the far side of the pit and snarled, eyes glowing with red fire.

Kryptonian. _Just fabulous._ So what did Steph do? She shot her grapple line straight at supervillainTM, like a total dumbass.

The woman caught the hook with an uncaring hand, no doubt thinking it a bullet or ordinary projectile. She certainly didn't anticipate the line recoiling, and Stephanie's fist crashing into the side of her face. The bones in her hand all shattered at once, pain exploding up her arm, but it was enough to stagger the woman and send her heat vision off course. Twin beams of red hit the ceiling, as the two of them fell to the ground. Steph pulled a Batarang from her belt with her good hand and rammed it into the woman's eyeball. Not very elegant by her usual standards, but the eyes were always where you hit monsters in the movies. Unfortunately, Kryptonian eyes turned out to be just as invulnerable as the rest of her, so those movies had evidently lied to her.

As a result, Steph was the proud recipient of one hell of a punch to the ribs. She screamed, catapulting straight into the ceiling, and she only just avoided cracking her head on the obsidian.

But her distraction did its job.

Reign broke free of Superman's hold just as the glowing woman and martian man dropped unconscious like puppets, and Supergirl rammed the knife right into Reign's breast.

The alien monster creature thingo shrieked in utter pain, then she… she actually _split_ into two different people, both of whom fell to the floor.

Supergirl then grabbed Reign and shot through the roof again. Stephanie face planted into the dirt.

"Ow."

Ow didn't really cover it. As after just two punches, she was more battered than after an entire brawl singlehanded back home.

SupervillainTM grabbed Stephanie's cape and hoisted her into the air.

"Hi, I'm Spoiler, nice to meet you. Can I get your stylist's name? Cause that cloak will totally go with my Death Eater cosplay."

Just as Stephanie's life was about to be snuffed, which was kind of annoying as she had shit that needed doing, Superman clocked her captor in the face, sending her crashing back into the wall. Then he caught Stephanie bridal style as she dropped like a sack of bones.

"I had that."

"Sure you did," Superman said. Usually, Steph would not have tolerated snark like that without responding in kind. However, given Superman's biceps were like _ohmygod_, and she was in a considerable amount of 'ow' right now, she decided to let it slide.

_"It's over,"_ came Supergirl's voice through a comlink in Superman's ear. Oh, thank God. _"Reign will be serving an extended stay in the cold vacuum of space until she collides with the sun."_

So they could just throw people into the sun? Maybe Supergirl would be willing to do that to Steph's literature teacher, the misogynistic ass.

"You're a long way from Gotham," Superman noted, and Steph nodded.

"Joker... he's going to destroy the entire city. He thinks it'll bring _Him_ back. Now, Batgirl's in a coma, Red Robin's in jail, and Nightwing and Orphan…" Steph swallowed, whole body shaking, and not just from the pain.

"He has my baby girl. Please, you _have _to help me."

Superman's face hardened, eyebrow twitching.

Then he turned to the side. Martian man was gone, and a tall African-American man was now looking over the glowing woman and the dead guy.

"I'll take care of them. Help her."

Superman nodded, then raised his hand to the comm in his ear.

"Kara… I have to get to Gotham. J'onn and the Legion will bring Mon-El back to the DEO."

_"… Okay, just… okay. I'll head for Central City. See if there's anything I can… anything I can do to help."_

"Hold on," Superman said. Then they shot into the air, out one of the holes in the roof, and away into the sky.

* * *

THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES: S3EP18 - Hey, World

**(April 2018, shortly before the Dome was placed around Central City)**

"Why'd you call me here Z?" John Constantine asked as he stepped into the Particle Accelerator Ring of STAR Labs. The place was bloody garish, and though it wasn't used as a prison anymore, the cells still lined the walls. He also didn't think anyone had thought to dust the place in a while.

"I've just come from the Parliament of Trees. Swamp Thing called a meeting of the world's greatest magi," Zatanna said, stepping away from the door and walking out into the enormous ring. John followed, not entirely sure what the point of this was but going along with it anyway. He figured he owed her that much, given he'd helped create a magical theme-park/refuge for escaped magical convicts and not warned her about it.

"I didn't get an invitation," John noted, "Not very polite."

Zatanna rolled her eyes at him. "You aren't exactly the easiest man to_ invite _these days, given you usually aren't in this time period."

"True," he conceded, "But you could have just left it in the House. I would have seen it… eventually."

Zatanna gave him a flat look.

"Oh. Right. Forgot I took away your key. My bad."

She continued onwards without comment, walking around the bottom of the accelerator ring. They continued until John could no longer see the cells or the door, though the ring itself looked basically the same.

"So, what did old Swamp Thing want?"

"He wanted answers. Answers none of us could give him."

John frowned. "What do you mean?"

Zatanna stopped suddenly, and, if not for his phenomenal sense of balance, he would have walked straight into her back. That… would not have been a good move.

"There's a blight infecting the Green. Something Swamp Thing has never seen before. He showed us an infected plant and… whatever it was certainly wasn't natural."

"Some kind of magical plague?"

She didn't answer immediately, instead reaching out with a hand and tracing a square shape in the air, muttering under her breath. A panel in the floor broke free, floating up into the air and revealing a ladder.

"Maybe. I did some research of my own, and, John… I found a lot more than even Swamp Thing knew." Now growing concerned, he followed her down the ladder. The room appeared to be some kind of storage or maintenance centre. Several old, empty crates lined the floor, and metal beams supported the roof. There was no illumination save the light from the entrance, so John drew a match from his pocket, threw it into the air, and used it to create a ball of fire. The flames revealed that the room wasn't far bigger than it had looked before. There was nothing special about it, save for a wooden table against a wall. It was towards the table that Zatanna led him.

"You probably haven't noticed it because you've been in the past, not to mention busy, but those of us more in-tune with the Source have started to sense it."

"Z, just spit it out already." Zatanna stepped up to the table and called his sphere of flame to her own palm. Lying on the table was a length of metal so black it seemed to suck in the light of the fire. He stepped up to it warily. It was shaped almost like a wizard's staff.

"There's a taint. A corruption leaching at our connection to the Source."

"That's impossible. You can't taint the Source. It's primordial energy."

"I don't know John!" She snapped, "But its there. Not in the Source, but almost obscuring it. Like a thin layer of oil. The Source is still pure, but you can't get to it without going through the filth. It's barely noticeable, and only when you're drawing lots of power, but its there, and I think it's what's causing the blight Swamp Thing found."

She turned to him, and John almost stepped back in shock. There was fear in her eyes. A deep, harrowing terror that made him shiver unconsciously.

"And I _knew _I'd felt it before. I only realised where when you woke Neron."

John glanced to the staff.

"On Earth X."

Zatanna swallowed. "The Source, it was blocked off there do you remember?"

"Yeah…"

"We could only use it once Cisco opened his breach."

"Like drilling a hole in the wall," he said, eyes locked on the metal.

"Exactly. Then, as soon as we arrived, the world started sinking into the pit. Into Its prison. I can't help but think that maybe Earth X didn't sink at all. Maybe…"

"It was dragged."

Constantine, steeling himself, stepped up to the staff. He twisted his hand, reciting a spell, and a network of red energy lines flickered into being around his hand like a glove. He held his hand out over the metal, and it immediately began to rattle on the table.

"I think… I think we might have fallen into a trap," she whispered, as if the louder she spoke, the more real it became.

"No think about it, love," he said. The staff started oozing a black tar-like substance, which immediately began to bubble upon contact with the air. The temperature immediately dropped, a dark cold falling about the room. The flames in Zatanna's palm died, and she lit her finger with a sphere of magic to compensate. John's breath began to frost. "We walked into it hook, line and sinker."

The staff shattered into a fine dust as a high pitched whine echoed through the room. The tar sat, bubbling on the desk for a brief moment, then, in a flash of bright white, it was _sucked_ together into a sphere of darkness, which then promptly popped out of existence. Pulled back into the prison where it belonged.

They stood there in silence for several minutes, staring at the imprint in the table-top, before Zatanna spoke again.

"The destruction spell I tried to use on the staff… it should have blown it to pieces. It didn't, so we brought it back with us. After the attack, it was put in the weapons vault. I don't know who by. After I realised… I moved it down here, waiting for you to come back."

"That was an excellent idea," he muttered, "The curse on that staff… It was an Infection of some kind. Not Demonic… something lower than even Hell." He turned away from the table and looked towards the opening in the roof. The coldness was fading, but it was still deathly chilled. The cuffs of his jacket had frosted over.

"How long was it in the weapons vault?"

"A couple of weeks at least. We have no way to know who touched it. Who's been… Infected."

John placed a hand on Zatanna's shoulder. She was still looking at the table, at the scorch mark gouged into the wood.

She trembled in the cold, and though he couldn't see her eyes, he could remember the terror he'd seen there moments ago.

"All roads lead back to Darkness," she muttered into the shadows, "All roads lead back to Darkness."

* * *

THE FLASH: S4EP22 - The Pattern

**September 2018**

Barry skidded to a stop beside Ellie and Frost, both of whom were panting with hands on knees, and watched, transfixed, as the Dome came crashing down around them. Flakes of green energy falling to the ground like snowflakes on the wind.

Life returned to the city, everyone stumbling back to life as if they hadn't even noticed the Thinker's efforts. Those on the streets, people outside, could see the power raining down from the sky, and had at least a better understanding that _something _had happened. And given the Flash, Frost and Vibe were standing in the middle of city plaza opposite the Reverse Flash and Captain Cold, they naturally started screaming and running for their lives.

Thawne sucked in a deep breath.

"Oh, I do love that sound," he whispered. Then he turned to Barry and winked.

"See you next time, Flash."

Thawne's body blurred to lightning, then he grabbed Snart, who was just stumbling back to life, and Amunet, who was puking on the pavement, and vanished.

"Flash!" Joe, oh thank God or the Speed Force or whatever was up there that he was okay. Joe looking panicked, raced over to them, stopping as he caught sight of Cisco, leaning against a concrete railing with a dumb look on his face.

"We, so, totally, have to keep practising that. For science purposes."

"Hard pass," Frost said, holding her side as she scrunched her face. The next second, her hair faded back to brown, and her eyes shifted back to normal.

"Did something run me over?" She muttered, before collapsing to the stone, blinking deliriously.

"Dad… I can still hear him."

That snapped Barry out of his thrilled revelry. He turned to the side and found Ellie floating in the air, wrapped in violet light, eyes ablaze.

"Ralphy. I can _hear_ his mind. Screaming, reaching for help. I… I think I can find him. Trace the pattern…"

Cisco pulled himself up as Barry stepped up to his daughter, cautiously.

"You can?"

"Not Thinker, just Ralphy. Maybe, because I _knew_ him, it's different."

Barry glanced to Cisco as Joe helped Caitlin up.

"If Ralph's still alive, he'll still be in his body, right?"

"Right. Which means I can Vibe it, get us _into_ DeVoe's pocket dimension." Cisco's eyes widened. "We can beat him. We can really beat him."

"He still has all the powers he stole," Caitlin reminded them, "And he still has the Sage Force."

"Not if I take them from him," Ellie said, an evil smile growing on her face as she dropped to the ground. They were starting to gather a crowd of onlookers.

"What do you mean?"

"He… he used me to hurt people. Now, I hurt him. I'm going to take away his toys."

Ellie - all of six years old, but seeming so much older at that moment - held her hand out to Cisco. He activated his visor, then grabbed her tiny fingers.

Both of them jerked, and a halo of violet light enveloped Cisco and Ellie both. Cisco yelled, then thrust his hand to the side, and a Breach formed in the middle of the square.

"I have it!"

"Dad! Follow the pattern."

Ellie threw out her own free arm, and… and a wall of shimmering violet light coalesced in the air, shimmering like a mirror.

_Fuck it._

Trusting his daughter, Barry ran into the light.

He did not enter the Speed Force. This was very much _not_ his domain.

It was an eternal abyss of pure _nothing. _Blackness eternal and infinite. But stretching through the abyss was a network of threads like the finest spider-silk, forming a great pattern that was utterly beyond his comprehension. It was on this network he ran, footsteps light as a feather, and with each movement, he gained a glimpse into the thread itself. Every string was a person somewhere in the Multiverse. He could even, incredibly, perceive himself—a golden thread crackling with electricity a short distance away.

A trail of violet led him along the highway of minds, pointed straight towards a thick, green thread entwined with a dozen others. The metas DeVoe had created.

_'Unwind them, Daddy. I… Quickly, I can't hold this for long.'_

He skidded to a stop inches from the Thinker's thread and hesitantly touched it.

_"I'll try again!" DeVoe snapped, backhanding his wife into the pocket dimension's garish blue-white room._

_"I can try again. I still have the Still Force. The Flash can't touch me! I will win in the end! I have all the time in the world, and the fastest mind to wield it!"_

_"They're going to beat you, Clifford!" Marlene yelled back, pulling herself off the ground as the Thinker sat down in his chair._

_"Every time. You think emotions are a weakness, that attachment is a distraction? They prove you wrong every time, and you can't see it. Doing something over and over again but expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. You say these powers you've harvested, the bodies you've stolen, cured you? I don't think they have. You're insane."_

Barry released the thread, then biting his lip, he touched one of the adjoining ones.

_'Yahhhhh! Don't do that! Wait? Barry? Holy shit! Dude, help me out of here!'_

Ralph. The idiot was still alive.

_'I heard that!'_

All of them were.

With delicate fingers, he started untying the threads the Thinker had wrapped around his own, and as soon as they disconnected, the silk lines yanked away from him, soaring across the abyss back to where the pattern dictated they _should_ be. And each time, the Thinker's thread would shiver, weakening.

He grabbed the last thread, Ralph's, and pulled it free. And as he did, the green glow enveloping the Thinker vanished.

A smirk slid across his face, and letting Ralph snap back to where he belonged, Barry turned and raced home.

He shot out of the violet lightly just in time to catch Ellie as she collapsed.

A sonic boom cracked the sky, and then Kara was there, dropping to the pavement with tears in her eyes. She grabbed Barry's face, laughing with giddiness, and pressed her lips against his.

"Ewwww! PDA! Yuk!"

Barry and Kara separated, looking into each other's eyes and offering soft, loving smiles.

"Guys, there's still a bad guy to deal with," Cisco said.

"Go save the day," Kara whispered, pulling Ellie from him as she laughed. "I waited outside this fucking dome for five months, I can't wait a few more minutes."

Then Barry was springing away, running through Cisco's Breach and out into the pocket dimension.

Just in time to watch all of DeVoe's victims appear in flashes of violet light around him.

And every one of them looked supremely pissed.

* * *

**The Present Day…**

Kara Allen stepped into the Watchtower control room and smiled softly as her gaze settled on her husband and eldest daughter standing side by side, looking out at the world below.

Her world.

Ally followed as Kara walked across the metal gangway, and Barry turned around at the sight of her, grinning like an idiot.

_Her _idiot.

"Hey, you. Long few days?"

"Long few days," Kara agreed, stepping up beside him. He put an arm around her shoulder's, and Kara leaned up against him, breathing in the scent of him. Of electricity and ozone.

"Another us," Barry said. "Another _multiverse_.

"One where you married _Iris_,_" _Kara noted with an amused grin. "And I thought the Bizzaroverse was bonkers."

Barry winced.

"Oliver… _our_ Oliver. Do you think he knew what he was doing when he…"

"I do. I think, in his last moments, he must have seen his other self holding the power of creation. They must have worked together, helped each other. Its the only way."

She leaned her head against his shoulder, pulling Ellie into her side with her other hand while Barry pulled Ally to him.

They stood together as a family, looking out the window at the shimmering Earth, and knew that, for a moment, everything was perfect.

"I've been thinking," Kara said eventually, "that we should really take a holiday. A cruise-ship through the Caribbean maybe."

"You can't tan," Barry noted dryly.

Kara frowned.

"The Fjords then? We could do Alaska or Norway. Or maybe a skiing holiday."

"Sounds like a plan."

In unison, Ellie and Ally both winced. Kara and Barry looked to each of them.

"What?"

"I'd recommend skipping 2020 if you want to go on a cruise ship," Ellie said.

"Honestly, I skip 2020 as a rule," Ally added, shaking her head. "Lockdown is for people who can't time-travel."

The two girls laughed at their inside joke, and Barry shrugged it off. He had two beautiful daughters, his friends, a life, and Kara. In the end, that was all he'd ever wanted.

A family.

* * *

**_The End_**

* * *

_Barry and Kara will return in Crisis: Knights of Metal_


End file.
